Heartbreak
by Juliemaggie
Summary: He saved her. He loved her. He lied to her, once. She killed him. AU. Tragedy. Oneshot (broken up for easier reading). Gets dark really quick. Inspired by Gu Family Book.
1. Full story

He saved her. He loved her. He lied to her, once. She killed him. AU. Tragedy. Oneshot. Gets dark really quick. Inspired by Gu Family Book.

Lots of trigger warnings - too many to list tbh. If you're triggered by anything don't read another word.

* * *

The bushes scratching at her arms and legs no longer bothered her. There wasn't much left for them to cut anyway - she'd been running for so long and so hard that she didn't feel the pain anymore.

Her breaths came out harshly. Loudly. She sought to cover her mouth in an attempt to quieten them. It was useless though - they were right behind her.

Really, they could've grabbed her an hour ago easily. They were just following her, taunting her, until she passed out and became an even easier target.

She refused. She would not die like this, would not become a meal for some wandering, damned vampires!

So she ran, in complete vain but she had to try. Maybe they would get bored, maybe they would decide to just call it a day and go fuck instead. Then again, for all she knew they'd just fuck and get right back on her trail.

'Fucks sake, why does this always happen to me?' She thought. 'Oh yeah, because my damned down to hell blood is meant to be some siren call to all these fucking vamps. Well, sorry to them, but I rather like my blood where it is.'

Up ahead there was a small rabbit hole she couldn't see. A useless glance over her shoulder resulted in her foot going right down into it, the speed she was travelling at resulted in extreme pain shooting up her whole leg as her body continued forward without her foot.

"Ah, fuck." Released from her mouth before she could stop it.

Nothing was broken, from what she could tell. It was painful enough that she now struggled to even limp.

Hobbling, she just made it to the closest tree. Her hand gripped the bark tight, making it now the only thing keeping her upright. Now that she'd stopped, the aches in her muscles and joints started to scream, and her mind became frenzied. Her cuts began to bleed more heavily without pressure from the air to keep the blood within.

No strength left, she crumbled to the ground. Here, she would die - she only hoped it was before the pair of vamps came to have their fill of her.

Vision fading, but her instinct to survive still keeping her eyes open in a valiant attempt to sense danger, she thought she saw a figure approaching. It wasn't either vampire she'd run into previously, this figure was much bigger.

But then she no longer cared, and faded away out of consciousness.

* * *

After hurting his girlfriend, and non-imprint, after getting too riled up, he just couldn't face anyone anymore. Everyone had cast him looks of sympathy or anger. Everyone hated him for hurting her, only a few had tried to forgive him.

Poor Angela had been carrying his child... his child he'd accidentally ripped out of her when he'd nearly torn her into pieces. One part of him blamed her - who got close to someone already extremely pissed off and just started screaming to them about nothing consequential? Who gave a flying fuck about the colour scheme of a room? He sure fucking hadn't at the time - his wolf even less so judging by what he'd done to the girl.

The rest of him knew it was all his own fault though. He'd not told her what he was. He hadn't explained why it was dangerous to be around him now. He hadn't explained why he couldn't be home as often as before. He hadn't done anything to prevent it, not heeded Sam and Emily's lesson and most certainly not listened to his wolf.

The wolf inside him that had refused to allow a pup to grow inside a woman that wasn't his mate... the fucking bastard.

Jacob had abandoned the pack, once he knew Angela would live. Unable to face anyone, he used what little alpha power Sam had taught him to completely sever the bond he'd had with his pack. As a wolf and a human, his head was empty and quiet.

Surprisingly, it was terrifying and relaxing all in one - as though he was missing a limb that should never had been there. It was right to have cut it out, but he still felt the pain and phantom-feelings left behind from it.

Some days, he thought he could still hear Paul and Jared jokingly fighting together about something trivial. Sometimes, he could hear his old pack laughing, joking, and playing.

It was all fake though - his mind was completely silent and empty besides his own thoughts. And he had to learn to love it, because that's all he was ever going to know.

In solitude, he'd made his home in the woods. It took him three months to construct a nice shelter within a spacious cave he'd found; Ensuring he wouldn't get his head bashed in from falling rocks had been fun, and required a lot of cut down trees, but he'd had infinite bundles of time.

Now, rather than a nice mattress that was too small for him, he had a big stone slab covered in furs to sleep on. Occasionally he stayed in wolf form to sleep on it, so his own fur was mixed up in there from summer months.

Living both as a human and a wolf was, well, almost ideal. His wolf body meant drinking from the streams and rivers didn't disgust him, and he could eat meat raw if he really wanted. Hunting was easily, especially considering he was a lot bigger than the natural wolves in the area. He'd cleared a small field when getting trees to secure his house, which he used to grow food. Inside his home, he kept a fire always burning for food and light. Rarely, it was also used for when he ran across some cold ones that weren't the Cullen's. Since he still lived on reservation land, just, any vampire he came across was fair game.

Recently, he'd killed one and managed to scare off two others. That had annoyed him - it meant they knew where he was. That alone made him itch, and constantly on edge for an attack.

It was during a hunting trip, following a small herd of deer silently, that he came across the scents - a human girl and those two vampires that had evaded him. Anger flooded him, and he would have transformed quicker than a pup if he wasn't already in his wolf form - how dare some cold ones not only come back into his territory but also hunt in it!?

Tearing through the trees, it didn't take long to catch up to them. The girl was running pretty fast, for a human, and must have been going at it for a while. They were miles away from the nearest road.

The cold ones were practically walking along the ground, taunting and waiting for her to tire out. They were staying downwind if her though, not following her direct scent like Jacob had.

This fact made him grin, it meant they couldn't smell him. She was also the sole focus of their attention - her scent was amazing to him, so it must have been just as nice but in a different way to them. If he wasn't so angry, he might've been sick at the thought.

Swiftly, he took down the female who was lagging slightly behind her mate. Jacob had observed the three a little before he had previously attacked their companion - he knew this female to be good at evading fights. Her mate was a hot head, and would be easily distracted by the death of his mate.

That was, if he was correct.

The red headed female fought back hard, but Jacob was an alpha - big and very strong. He ripped her head off before she could make much sound.

A hard force leapt onto his back then, punching him hard and he was pretty sure he heard and felt his side rip open. Bastard had punched him and cut him.

Spinning, Jacob refused to let it bother him, and fought against the male vampire with everything left in him - ripping away his arm for revenge against the cut on his side.

"Go home, little mutt. The girl will die anyway." The vampire grinned, and darted away after the girl. With only a second of hesitation, Jacob charged after him, and grabbed his other arm when he caught up.

Armless, but still with teeth, the vampire went to bite him - this forced Jacob to retreat a little. With the cut on his side and possibly other injuries internally, Jacob wasn't going to risk getting venom in his system.

The fight morphed into a circling dance, each trying and failing to bite each other. It was only when they both heard the girl give off a cry somewhere in the distance that the vampire was momentarily distracted - enough for Jacob to rip away his head too.

Releasing a huff, he turned to examine his side. It wasn't deep, but it was long. Hopefully, it would heal pretty quickly.

Transforming human, the cut seemed to hurt even more. Thankfully, it was clean from what he could tell, and was already healing.

Giving one last glance to both vampires he'd felled, ensuring they were both immobilised for the time being, he ran to find the girl.

Approaching slowly once he found her, he assessed she was nearing unconsciousness, covered in cuts on all skin that wasn't covered, and had hurt her leg. Otherwise though, she appeared to be alright - meaning she hadn't been bitten.

Quickly, he retreated away to transform and put on some shorts.

Easily, he picked her up and ran to his home. It wasn't far, but rather difficult to reach - with a rather steep climb and thick trees to weave through, then a winding series of tunnels before a clearing that lead to his own cave. The original finding of it had been an accident when chasing a deer.

Carefully, he placed her down on his bed and examined her foot tentatively. It was bruised, but not swollen, so he took a guess that it wasn't sprained or broken. He cleaned her small wounds with what little he had, and ripped up a shirt to use as a bandage for a large cut on her arm.

Since she was still unconscious, and he couldn't see a head injury, he just left her wrapped in furs to dispose of the vampires.

Piling the pieces up didn't feel like a good idea with a human in his cave, so he instead transformed into his wolf form and put each piece that he carried back straight into the fire. His cave already stank of vampires from their companion's death the other day, so he wasn't too bothered by the smoke or smells.

Being conscious of the human girl though, he used a large fur blanket to fan the smoke towards the entrance. It wouldn't be very good for the human to die of smoke inhalation.

Towards night, the flames eventually died down and there was very little vampire left, so Jacob stoked the fire and finally added more wood to keep it going.

With a glance back towards the human girl, and another towards his dwindling pile of wood, he breathed a deep sigh before leaving to gather more.

* * *

Fuzzily, she awoke feeling very warm. Her vision was very blurry, but her other senses came back to her much faster.

Whatever she was lying upon was very soft, and she had to guess it was wool or fur.

A groan released from her mouth involuntary as she tried to move - every muscle in her body ached. They screamed for her to just sleep - but she could remember those two vampires. Remembered their grinning faces as they offered to let her run, and she'd taken the offer by spinning away and running as hard as she could. She wasn't safe, she'd never be safe. You could only kill a vampire with fire, and even then she highly doubted she could've tricked either of them into walking into a fire. Not that she would've had time to build one while running for her life.

She forced herself to sit up, and waited for her eyes to work again. With her empty stomach screaming at her, she realised she was probably nearing starvation. There was very little food available to her, in her way of life, but usually got by. Recently, what with her best friend having only just joined her in her lifestyle (not by choice), she'd been giving her friend half her wages to make the transition easier. At the time, she knew it was only temporary and she could survive for a few weeks on less food - she could spare a few pounds on her thighs and stomach anyway. Now, she was seriously regretting that decision.

That is, until she spotted some dried meat a little ways away. Tentatively, she shuffled along to the end of the bed - no, a big flat rock covered in enough furs to make it feel like a cloud.

Pushing away thoughts of animal welfare and how bad buying furs was, she just focused on the meat and carefully continued towards it. Remembering her foot, she carefully put pressure on it. Of course, it hurt, but she'd sprained and broken both ankles a lot before. She knew what both felt like - and so she knew her foot was just bruised up.

Again, she pushed away any thoughts of who had taken off her shoe and examined her foot.

Grabbing the food, she carefully examined it as much as her hunger allowed. It looked well cooked - smoked? - she didn't know or care, but it looked edible so she ate it. Her stomach settled afterwards, and she settled back down into the furs. Whatever had happened, she could find out after she'd rested some more.

* * *

Jacob figured he'd been gone about an hour, but he'd gathered enough wood to last him a few days. He carefully lowered the wood carrier he'd built, from wood and furs. His years of fixing up cars meant he was very good with his hands, and building things to make things easier on himself had become a bit of a hobby. Deeper into the cave, there was a plethora of tools from his old life, as well as new ones he'd had to make. Money would be nothing to him currently, if he didn't have a bad habit of ruining his clothes and breaking said tools. So, occasionally he would sell meat or fix someone's car fairly cheaply on the Reservation or in town - the butcher had a personal liking for rabbit, and the police chief very much enjoyed fish or venison. There was always someone to make a few dollars from.

And it was with that money that he planned to run out in the morning and buy the girl some proper, clean clothes. He wasn't naturally one to judge, but he could tell what line of business she was in. Old blood and other stains covered her barely there jacket, she was wearing shorts in early spring and her shoes had holes in. He hadn't checked, of course, but he'd guess she was wearing a rather revealing shirt. So, he was going to take the executive decision to buy her some warmer clothes - as a kindness at least, and since he figured she'd have to stay with him until her foot was better. Personally, if he had been in her place, he would not have wanted to be hobbling around in the same attire as she with a strange man walking about. That was him though, and he just hoped she wouldn't take offence.

After a short nap, dawn came and he left to go for a run to the nearest shop. He'd be gone all of about an hour if he ran most of the way as a wolf. So, he tied his clothes to his ankle (checking twice that his wallet was securely tied on too) then bounded away as a big russet wolf.

* * *

Again, she awoke to an empty cave. This time, she could manage her hunger and instead focused on where she was. It was a cave, but it looked like a wooden hut had been built inside, probably to protect from falling stalactites. The walls were all the natural rock, with strong felled trees being used to support the structure rather than cut beams - she guessed then that this hadn't been a very expensive venture. Not that she exactly cared - it probably still costed more than her "home".

Feeling a little vulnerable, she pulled a fur blanket around her - she was surprised that it was a bear skin and not an actual manufactured blanket. There were even cuts in it from where the person had attacked - or maybe they'd used hunting dogs, on account of how the cuts looked to have been made from another animal.

Sincerely, she hoped her saviour wasn't some crazy madman that lived out here in the woods, wearing just a loincloth with unkept hair and raggedy beard. Then again, if it was a man resembling Tarzan in a loincloth, she wouldn't be too against becoming his Jane. Shacking up with a wild man that couldn't speak English was a much nicer idea at the moment than the living situation she'd previously been in.

Sitting by the fire, she carefully added some more wood to it.

"Ah, for fucks sake!" She shouted as she accidentally burnt the back of her hand. "Fuck, bastard, bollocks..."

A continuing stream of profanities left her mouth as she clutched at her hand, and limped out the cave in search of water. The only thing she knew about burns was to put them in or under water as quickly as possible.

There was thankfully a small stream, which she threw her hand into. Her eyes had teared up from the pain, but she refused to let any fall. Bella Swan did not cry.

"Oh, you're awake."

A voice behind her shocked her enough to make her let off a loud scream, spin on her bad foot and fall on her ass! This just further injured her foot though, so she let off another scream!

"Ow..." She whined, tentatively reaching out to her ankle. Definitely sprained now. "Ah fuck sake."

Hanging his head a little, the man that had scared her slowly approached. She kept her eyes on him, but something within her told her not to fear him. She knew the worst of the worst of men, and vampires. She didn't fear men or what they might do to her, but she still didn't trust them. That something within her, maybe an instinct developed from her lifestyle, let her know that he wasn't the kind to hurt her.

Getting down to her level, but still about two feet away, he smiled gently, sweetly. "Hi. I'm really sorry about that."

The apology made her relax a little, and she felt almost comfortable in his presence, so she waved it off. "I'm easy to injure, super clumsy and that. I'm kinda used to it by now." A nervous laugh left her mouth.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd genuinely laughed.

The man sighed. "Well, feeling up to walking or should I carry you inside again?"

"Carry me, please. I only came out here because I burnt my hand a little, I'm pretty exhausted from that short walk." After being in her line of work for so long, she no longer gave any fucks about being touched by any man. This one, which her instinct was telling her would never hurt her, she figured would never touch her inappropriately either.

The man smiled, and carefully carried her back inside.

The next few hours were rather awkward on both their parts, he scurried about offering her food, water (which he promised had been treated with a tablet) and even some new clothes he'd admitted he'd left to buy for her. Rather than being insulted, she thought it quite sweet.

While she was getting changed, he'd left saying he was going to get food.

He returned a little while later with a whole deer!

It had a big bite mark on its neck, clearly how it had been killed, so again she just assumed he had a hunting dog or two, and just didn't question it.

Her sole attention was upon his hands, listening but not really taking anything in as he explained how to skin the deer, and then how to prepare the meat. She just kept thinking of how good this Tarzan's rough hands would feel upon her - she hadn't felt pleasure in so long that being around this kind ray of sunshine stirred up feelings she thought had been long buried.

Though, he wasn't quite Tarzan. His skin was a clear olive, hair was such a dark black it almost looked blue and was cropped short, and he wore normal clothes - not a loincloth. She was almost disappointed about that last part.

However, while he was pure muscle like Tarzan, she decided he was far more buffed up and a lot taller, with far superior posture. Then again, she highly doubted he'd been raised by apes and been expected to walk and talk like them.

Only once they started eating did they really start to talk.

"How's your foot? I am, genuinely really sorry about that." He bit his lip in a way that, under normal circumstances, might have made her leap across the fire and into his lap.

"Erm," She squeaked at her thoughts, but covered it with a convincing cough. "I've had worse, though if you have any painkillers they'd be great right now."

Slowly, he shook his head, then shrugged. "Not unless you count weed."

She burst out laughing at how casually he'd said it. "I think I'll pass, thanks." They smiled at each other, then she just had to ask; "So, you got a name or am I just gonna keep referring to you as Tarzan in my head?"

The man across from her nearly choked on his food, and once he managed to swallow he bellowed out a laugh that made her heart bloom. "Tarzan? Nah, my name is Jacob Black. I used to live on the Reservation, but um... some stuff happened and, I found myself here. Not quite raised by the apes, I'm afraid." He shot her a grin that made butterflies flutter in her stomach.

"Well, I'm Bella Swan." She nearly reach to shake his hand, but stopped herself just before she burnt herself, again.

Jacob let off a little laugh at her idiocy, and she giggled nervously. It still surprised her that she'd managed to live to be twenty five.

"So," Jacob spoke once he'd calmed down. "What's your story? How'd you end up all the way out here?" He was leaning back against a rock, a little closer to her now. He'd wolfed down his food faster that she could've imagined possible!

It was his last question that turned her spine to ice. Her eyes darted to the cave entrance, half expecting to see two grinning vampires there just waiting for her. They weren't though, and she let off a deep sigh.

She couldn't tell him the truth - he'd definitely laugh loud and proud if she said she was being chased by two vampires. Two vampires that had promised to let her live if she could run all the way to Canada before they caught her.

She hadn't even know if she was running in the right direction, she'd just ran... stupid, stupid!

But then her eyes swung back to his, and although she wasn't initially going to tell him the whole truth her, instinct or whatever told her she could tell him it all. She was safe here. Whoever this Jacob guy was, she felt safe as long as he was near, and she could trust him.

"I was..." A pause to gather her breath, and close her eyes so she didn't have to see him laugh at her. "I was being chased by two vampires."

To her complete surprise, there was no laughter. Her eyes slowly opened to see him just politely smiling at her. "I know, and it's okay. They can't reach you here, nothing can hurt you here."

For a moment she just looked at him skeptically, then jokingly smirked. "What, you're some kind of danger repellent?"

He nodded, completely serious. "Something like that, sure."

Well that stopped her, but got her curiosity beating at her to ask all kinds of questions. However, experience told her not to ask and just go with it. "Cool."

* * *

Days passed, and her foot got worse before it got better. Unable to walk on it, she had to rely heavily upon her new friend Jacob for a lot of stuff. Helping her go to the toilet was the most embarrassing, but he just stood with his back to her and magically conjured a roll of toilet paper whenever she asked.

She'd decided on her first, technically second, night with Jacob that she was just not going to question anything. There were no dogs, but every time he came back with another dead animal, it had clearly been attack by some other animal. But she just skinned it, with his help since she still hadn't figured it out fully. His hands still distracted her.

A few weeks later, she was able to walk. This was a blessed freedom to her, and she used it to explore the inside and outside of the cave. It was only now that she learned a new side of Jacob.

Whatever flowers she'd smelled that day, she later found tied in a small bunch upon her - well, their bed, but on her side. It made her lips curl in order to hide a grin. His actions where slightly stalker-esque, but she knew he only meant to be sweet. She soon found herself mentally referring to him as 'Tarzan' less, and as 'Fluffy Marshmallow' more.

He even wordlessly accommodated her monthly needs. She'd barely begun to get the warning cramps when Jacob tentatively handed her a brown paper bag filled with an assortment of women products - including chocolate!

Again, she questioned nothing.

Eventually, one night when they were cuddling near the fire, Bella decided to indulge him on the not so pleasant story that was her life. Jacob had revealed himself to be a very physical person, which she didn't mind at all. It only extended to holding her hand, putting his arm around her shoulders when they walked together and giving her a hug when he'd been away for a few hours. And, though they slept next to each other, it was only as friends.

* * *

I was born and raised on Forks by my father - the chief of Police. He was a very good father, though a little awkward at times. Especially whenever I wanted him to come play with me on the swings or something while out in public. Being in his line of work, I suppose he didn't like to appear overly human or leave himself open to having a vulnerability.

When I was eight years old, my mother suddenly put in an appeal to have full custody of me instead - claiming that my life of being taken care of by "strangers" was less than the life she could give me. She worked as an at-home interior decorator, clothes designer and other jobs I just didn't care to learn. Nevertheless, she was rolling in money - and was married now to some big shot baseball player.

The courts gave her full custody, without even an investigation into who the 'strangers that looked after me' were. They just took her word for it. The stranger was my dad's fiancé, and she was much less of a stranger to me than my own mother.

As soon as I arrived in the hot air of Arizona, I hated it. It was the complete opposite of Forks, which I favoured for its trees, rain and clouds. Arizona had sun, heat and sand. I could not stand the place.

My mother made things worse - she'd presumed I was just like her. Girly, pink-loving, Forks-hating, flighty, giggly, etcetera etcetera. The bedroom she'd designed for me was all pink, with dolls on all the shelves and in all the toy boxes. I'd looked at her dumbfounded, and clearly said, "I haven't played with dolls since I was three."

Since I'd picked up a wrench and tried to help my dad fix his truck, to be exact.

My mother laughed at this, said something about that changing, then flitted out of the room like a hummingbird.

I threw the dolls all out my window, only keeping one that was dressed in a leather jacket and had blue hair - I only liked her. I filled the spaces where the dolls had been with my books on cars, dinosaurs and a few on guns. All the traditional tomboy things - pretty cliche really. My dad had wanted a child he could relate to - a son ideally I suppose, but he just treated me as he would've treated any of his children. Not that I know whether he had more children - my mother refused him any contact with me.

At the time, the only thing considered girly about myself was my love for My Little Pony. I filled the toy boxes with my collection, and put my favourites on the spare spaces of the shelves.

When my mother noticed the changes, she was absolutely horrified. So much so, she smacked me hard enough to leave a bruise, and refused to let me out my room until morning.

By that point, I hadn't eaten since I'd had breakfast with my father that morning. I was starving.

In the years to come, that was the normalcy.

My mother insisted on homeschooling me, which meant watching Victorian-era films, reading books about how women were inferior and learning "how to be a lady". I hated it more than the intense heat outside. Every time Renee (I referred to her by her first name only by this point) believed I'd taken a step in the direction she wanted me to, I ensured to take five back. Usually by smashing a teapot, stomping on a cucumber sandwich or running outside and somehow making sure to get myself covered in mud. My mother was one of those people that was rich enough to have sprinklers constantly on, even if it meant the plants ended up practically drowned. She eventually got rid of the sprinklers after I'd got covered in mud one too many times.

It was only when I was around twelve that her husband, who wasn't home very often, told her he wanted a divorce. He'd found someone else - I think she was a female baseball player who was much calmer and more sensible than my flighty mother. He managed to win a lot of her money in the courts - she'd never even heard of a pre-nup.

Of course, she blamed me for it all. Then, she took the usual route of drugs and drink. Lost all her high-end jobs, which left her penniless, jobless and friendless. That was the way her circle of friends worked - they didn't speak broke.

So, I was nearly fourteen when she unashamedly sold me to a brothel.

Thankfully, it was a high end one. One of those where you have to go through training first - and they saw virginity as a weakness, not something of high cost. It meant I was inexperienced - something their customers didn't favour. Thankfully.

Until I was eighteen, I was trained to be a prostitute and escort. It was quite a pampered life, really. But my knowledge of cars and guns helped a lot of the customers in ways they'd not thought visiting a brothel would have.

While they had their fun, I got mine from fixing up their cars and cleaning their guns. I eventually moved onto modifying them, helping the cars run smoother and teaching them how a gun really worked - how to properly care for it and the like. It didn't even occur to me at the time that they were a mob or a gang - I just saw a way to get a little money on the side without having to use my body. And I got to handle the things I liked most - cars and guns.

It wasn't until an old cowboy rolled in, and he saw me serving drinks in a My Little Pony shirt that I got to be around my third favoured thing - horses. He only came in for a few drinks, and to request a pretty woman to attend events with him. He got those, of course, but also a silly little sixteen year old to look after his horses for pretty cheap.

That lasted a little over a year, until my training finally ended. They had a designated barman, who was nice and charming. His job was to ensure every new girl's first time was good - it ensured that we weren't damaged too much when it came time to be a prostitute. Looking back, it was really disgusting that he even accepted that job. I suppose he was just as perverted as some of the customers.

After I was no longer a virgin, I didn't have time to tend to horses or fix up cars.

Every day was serving drinks, dancing on stage or luring in customers. By night, I usually was just expected to attend fancy events. I had to look pretty and clean. I had to act charming and polite. I had to rely on all those stupid lessons my mother had tried to force upon me.

The strange thing was, I didn't mind it at all. After the years of abuse from my mother, and months where I feared being raped by the drug dealers she brought home, or having an empty bottle flung at my head for no reason, or being burned by whatever she was smoking at the time just because she wanted to, my new lifestyle was a breath of air.

Selling my body wasn't fun though, but I was one of those where you could only have me if you kept it wrapped up. I refused without, and even had to get some men thrown out. My bosses didn't mind though - my work as a kid had gained them quite a lot of money.

Sadly, that life didn't last long. The place got shut down, I never found out why, and I was on the streets for a few weeks. Luckily, I somehow didn't get pregnant during that time. Street workers don't exactly have much right to demand their customers keep it wrapped up.

Then that old cowboy found me, took me in and offered me free board and food if I continued the old work I'd don't for him years before. It was a good, nice life for a while. I was able to actually have a life - I went out and made friends, the old cowboy got me an education online, put me on his healthcare and basically became a second father to me.

Again, I was extremely lucky. I had a clean bill of health - though had a little malnutrition. No STD's, internal injuries or anything. Honestly, I was pretty shocked for a while!

Sadly, the same couldn't be said for my old cowboy adoptive father. He'd developed AIDS, admitting to me and the doctor that there was a large period in his life where he didn't even consider protection. The doctor said it was common within men of his age group, but that it usually wasn't left undetected that long, and estimated he'd only acquired the HIV virus within my lifetime.

He wasn't given very long to live, and lasted less time than that. His estranged family suddenly came along, after his death. Pretended to weep at his funeral - it was quite Oscar worthy. Truly.

His last will left me everything, but there was some tiny legal issue - he'd forgotten to put his signature in one place or something. I wasn't full, mentally there at the time. The family that had been thrown out by him thirty years ago or so got everything, and threw me out. Last I heard, all the horses which hadn't been the best in the country but still quite worth a few hundred thousand dollars were sold on the cheap to some farmer for dog meat. The house, stables and track were bulldozed, the land sold off and now has a run down shopping mall on it. There had been little to no interest in such things in that area - everyone produced their own resources or traded with their neighbour.

Destitute, I turned to the only place I knew might be safe for me. But I only had enough money to get me to Port Angeles, so I've been back in my old trade the last few months. I did have a proper job for a short time, and even made friends, but I got in a spot of trouble, and a pimp ended up saving my life - said I owed him at least five thousand dollars for it so I told him of my previous training. His organisation was dirt compared to the business I'd been originally trained in - but I wouldn't have been able to pay him back for years with the job I'd had.

* * *

"Throughout all this, I'd been exposed to vampires. They employed some of us at my first institution - for escort purposes when at events. They enjoy showing off, and competing for who can employ the prettiest woman. It was when I was about fifteen or sixteen that a vampire first nearly ate me - I'm some kind of singer to them. My blood is extra sweet, or something. Only vegetarians, ones that only drink from animals, and freshly fed or well experienced vampires can resist me. Quite a few have needed to be restrained around me. Like everything else in my life, the early exposure just meant I got used to it all." Bella toyed with her sleeve, she had a bad habit of pulling the threads out.

"My hopes at the moment is to be able to stay with you, Jacob..." She trailed off, but quickly coughed and continued before she lost all resolve. "I feel so safe here - you make me feel safe. I just want to escape everything, live a simpler life. I want to feel safe and free... as long as you'll allow me. As soon as I get too annoying or become a hindrance, let me know and I'll be out your hair."

Bella finally stopped talking, bit her lip and held her breath. She'd never monologued for so long, and never told anyone her full story. She didn't want the pity or the sympathy - in her opinion life was shit, and then you die. Her life was just shittier than most, but she'd accepted that the day her father had tearfully placed her on a plane and never saw her again.

Finally, her eyes flitted up to Jacob's face, and stayed there when she registered his expression. He was crying, biting his fist in an attempt to compose himself.

Then he moved so swiftly she might've missed it if his lips hadn't met hers. They were soft, and so very warm. His kiss was slow, and gentle. It wasn't a kind she'd really had before. There was an edge of desperation to it in the way he pressed a little too hard, and gripped the hair at her neck rather than gently hold her head. He pitied her, maybe?

There she realised she didn't care, and kissed him back. Tears slowly slid down from her eyes, and both of them tasted salt in their mouths from both their tears.

"Your home will always be my home, Bella." Jacob promised. "I swear."

After that night, the pair were much closer to each other.

* * *

"I need to go collect more wood, wait her until I'm back and we can go for a walk?" Jacob asked with a grin, and peck on her cheek.

Bella had been lost in thought though, and jumped a little at the contact, then her hands quickly reached out and gripped at his arm. "Wait, um, I was wondering actually... just how far are we from Forks? I was wondering about my father... whether he was still alive."

Jacob swallowed. He knew Bella's father - he was the police chief that favoured fish. Their fathers were best friends - honestly he was surprised he and Bella had never met before. He was only a year younger than her, though he supposed the first years of his life had been clouded by the death of his mother too much to be dragged around to his father's best friend's house.

Jacob also knew that the police chief now had three other children, and believed his eldest daughter was living a nice life still somewhere else in the country. Three adopted children - since his second wife had been killed in a freak hunting accident with a trigger-happy, slightly inebriated tourist wanted to hunt the "bears" in the area.

Those "bears" being Jacob and his old pack protecting the Res from cold ones.

Did Bella really want to know what became of her father in the end? Would Charlie really want to know what kind of life his eldest daughter had really been living all these years?

Finally, Jacob sighed heavily. There was a heavy lump in his throat threatening to choke him for the lies his was about to say. "I'm sorry Bella, I knew him... He married Sue, but they both died. House fire." Not a total lie - Sue was dead, and Charlie had accidentally caused a house fire once.

Jacob watched as Bella's eyes glazed over for a moment, and he steadied her in case she was going to faint. Slowly, a tear slid down her cheek, she nodded and then walked back into the cave mutely.

By the time he'd returned, she seemed back to normal. Finally, he felt he could breathe again - one or two hours of her being a little sad over a father she hadn't known for nearly two decades was better than however much hurt the truth would've caused.

Greeting her by holding her and kissing her head, Jacob let himself relax a little. This little slip of a girl, older than him by years and experience, who had suffered through enough to make many people break physically and mentally, had managed to slip and weave her way into his heart and wedge herself there - maybe permanently. His wolf was settled and calm around her, practically a puppy begging for attention whenever she was near. They hadn't imprinted on her, but they more than accepted her.

Years ago, he had loved another. Now, he loved Bella. Harder, and stronger - reinforced by the same feelings from his wolf. Where last time only half the man had loved a woman, this time the whole of him loved her.

Still though, he couldn't bring himself to tell her what he was. It was too much - even for her. She detested everything supernatural - albeit she only knew of vampires, as far as he was aware. He could keep it from her, he had to. Otherwise, she would surely run away in terror.

"Jake?" A soft voice cane from within his arms. He'd been musing for so long, he'd forgotten he was still holding the subject of his thoughts within his arms.

Chocolate orbs met his own dark brown, and for a moment he was just lost before - "Marry me."

She tensed. "Wh-what?"

"Marry me." Saying it again was a lot easier, and he slowly began to grin down at me. "Let's get married."

"B-but," Hesitation from her almost made his heart stop beating. Rain slowly began to pour around them - he needed keep the wood dry, so he tried to move them both to be within the cave. "Jacob." She tugged on his wrist just as he placed the wood carrier down within the cave. Looking back with wide eyes, he tried to gently pull her inside since she was starting to get soaked in the heavy downpour.

Then he noticed she seemed to be thinking over his words too much - her brows crushing together, her mouth twisting up and her fists pressed into her stomach. Gently, he rubbed her thumb into the top of her nose, between her eyes, before she gave herself a headache and waited.

Immediately, her eyes closed at the contact, and she relaxed a little. "Jacob, I'm an orphan."

"I know. So am I. Marry me."

"Jacob, I used to be a prostitute."

"I know. Marry me."

"Jake, I'm forever going to be hunted by vampires, even with your danger repellent thing." Her hands waved around, and he thought back a chuckle.

Again, "I know. So, marry me?"

Finally, her eyes opened and one tear slid down her cheek to join the rain. "Are you sure you want me?"

This time he does chuckle, and wraps his arms around her where she stands. Him inside, her outside. Slowly, her arms rise to hug him back and she gently cries into his chest. She's so small next to him. "I'll want you until my dying breath."

Sniffling, she leaned back. "Wanna marry me, then?"

Simultaneously they broke out into laughter, and Bella squealed and he spun her around until she was finally in out of the rain.

* * *

They hadn't wanted or needed any priests of witnesses, in their opinion. The trees and the wind could be their witnesses, and the river could be their priest. Together, the said their vows of fidelity among the trees that brought them together.

And that night they lay together not as friends, but as husband and wife... with the wife proving to be the much more experienced of the pair. Not that Jacob minded at all.

The next few days they stayed within a honeymoon feeling, rarely leaving each other's side or even their bed.

Eventually though, they each had to return to all the requirements their simple life demanded from them.

With a heavy heart, Jacob kissed his wife goodbye and told one last lie; "I'm just going into town to make some repairs, I'll be back tonight."

Really, there was an old friend he needed to visit.

The house was just as he remembered it, and knocking on the door that for years he'd just walked through as if it were his own felt so strange. The door creaked as it opened, and there stood Quil with a slow grin growing on his face. "Jacob!"

After the usual polite talk that was required when entering someone's house, Jacob brought up why he was really at his door. "I need to speak to Old Quil."

Still easy-going Quil smiled. "He lives in his own room at the back, go straight in." His old friend pointed the way, then abruptly spun on his heel and ran to the from door just in time to answer it to a much-bigger-than-last-he'd-seen-her Claire.

Jacob smiled at the scene, then slowly let himself into Old Quil's living area.

After more small pleasantries, Jacob quickly got to the point. "Is there any way for me to... separate from my wolf? To become fully human?"

Suddenly, both his wolf and Old Quil perked up. His wolf was agitated, and slightly hurt - why would anyone want rid of him? He'd been behaving himself perfectly well!

Meanwhile, Old Quil just seemed deeply concerned. "Why would you want such a thing, boy? You already know the answer from the last time you asked me."

Jacob swallowed nervously. "That was different - that time I wanted to kill him. I want him to live, maybe even have his own body if possible... I became this way because of my ancestor accidentally killing the spirit of the wolf he was within. The spirit of my wolf is within me, and shares his body with me in a way that allows me to become him. Surely, if there are two bodies and two spirits, there is a way to separate both safely?"

Jacob's wolf immediately went from hurt to supportive, if there was a way to do such a thing, he wouldn't be against it.

Old Quil sighed, and added a log to his fire. A delaying tactic. "There is such a way to do as you say, but it is rather dangerous. You could easily end up with the spirit of the wolf trapped within the man, and the spirit of the man trapped within the wolf. Either of the bodies could die, leaving you both trapped in just one form - ending up dead eventually as that is too much strain on one body. You could even end up as just a spirit! Forever to wander the earth without a body!" Old Quil snapped harshly at the end but none of it deterred Jacob - he really had only heard that his assumptions were correct.

"What if it goes well, though?" Jacob pushed.

With a sigh, Old Quil again tried to find a way to delay but came up short. "If it goes well, you'll become fully human - this means you'll no longer carry the wolf gene. You will completely end the line of Black protector's if you go through with this. Your children will never have the honour of becoming a protector, and neither will the rest of your line. Truly, that would be a sad day." The old man fell into a cliche coughing fit at the end.

Jacob felt anger creeping up his spine - this old man really knew nothing about the lives of the "protectors". They'd all had to drop everything - their dreams and hopes, everything - because they were suddenly forever tied to the land, all because they had exploded into a wolf during a fit of rage. That's what this old man counted as honour.

As his breath became laborious and his fists began to shake, his vision became red. His only thought was upon ripping the arrogant man to shreds for his stupidity his own grandson had been on anti-depressants until Claire showed up for fucks sake! His wolf was just waiting, bubbling under the surface.

But then her face appeared from within the red mist. Her laugh tickled his ears, her moans ghosted across his chest and her scent drifted to his nose. Instantly, at just the thought of Bella, he completely calmed down. "Tell me how to do it."

* * *

Three months later, Jacob couldn't remember a time he'd been happier. Each day, he saw to the forest, cared for the animals and got to spend time with his wife.

Those were just some of the requirements to become human though - in total though, he had to remain within human form, relying only upon his human body to help anyone and anything that needed him, ensured the forest wasn't being mistreated by any living thing, grow his hair long (which perplexed him slightly), pray everyday to the spirits of his ancestors and continue to love and cherish the one who made him want to became human. This, he had to do for 100 days and then he would get his wish.

In the beginning, he'd scoffed and said that it was easy. But after having to catch ten hikers, save sixteen falling baby chicks and nurse an injured doe rather than just pity kill her and eat her, he was starting to get a little tired of being an acting-in forest god. Or whatever.

Cherishing his wife though, he was all too happy to do. And her being rather favourable of him growing out his black locks did help in that department. He'd almost forgotten how much of a hassle washing and maintaining long hair was, and he was extremely grateful to his loving wife that she was willing to help him with it.

However, he just couldn't help but to laugh every time they 'showered' in a waterfall at her attempts to reach his hair. She knew she was far to short, and would huffed at him every time, then say either "Get down here, Goliath!" or "Tarzan would bend down for his Jane, you know." Both of which made him laugh enough that he bent over and obliged her.

Life was blissful. Content. Perfect.

That is, until he returns home to find his wife completely gone.

* * *

Usually, Bella wouldn't leave their sanctuary without her husband. However, she really wanted to surprise him with his favourite meal - which required going quite a way out into the woods to where there was a patch of herbs she needed. It would take all of about an hour, and usually her husband was gone for a good five or six hours when he went out to earn some money, so he'd never even know she was gone.

All in black, Bella skipped her way out the cave, across the clearing, through the tunnels and down the hill, basket in hand. The fresh air, a little thick with moisture, felt great in her lungs - which had grown accustomed to the smokey, damp air of the cave. Her hair waved out behind her, freshly brushed since her husband was growing out his hair and realised why she had been nagging about the necessity of a brush.

Pure joy flowed through her as she breezed along through the trees, and carefully jumped over each root and rock. It felt as though nothing at all could bother her or go wrong - everything was right in the world, or at least in her world.

She had noticed a large personal change within her over the months she spent with Jacob - whose ability to always make her smile had been a large help. Mentally, she hadn't been as well since she was living with her father as a child. Physically, she hadn't ever been as fit or as strong - her life was very physically demanding. Albeit, she carried a lot more scars than before she sprinted for her life into the woods, but scars were just a part of life. Personality wise, she'd noticed herself being a lot calmer, and smarter. Her brain had had time to recuperate, and adapt away from flight or fight to be back towards more rational thinking - every problem has a solution besides fighting or running away.

Except the supernatural. Always, for her, it would be to run as fast and as hard as she could.

All in all though, she was the best version of herself so far, and she was rather proud and happy about it. A part of Bella would've liked to claim she'd done it all herself, but she knew the addition of living and of being loved greatly assisted her transitioning.

But then she reached the usual patch of herbs, and her heart sunk as she spotted a wild boar munched and trampling his way through the wild herb patch.

'Fucking brilliant,' she thought, and nearly shocked herself with the thought - she hadn't sworn verbally or mentally for months... except when with her husband.

Quickly recovering, she carefully made sure to remain upwind of the boar, and continue on to another herb patch she knew of. It was about another hour away, tripling her journey time, but she knew she could make it back with more than enough time to spare.

An hour passed, and Bella could finally see the clearing she knew held the herbs she needed. By now, her back and brow were soak with sweat from being beaten down by the summer heat. She really hadn't dressed appropriately for the weather, but there wasn't much to do about it now. Her limbs were knackered, but she forced them onwards - she could rest her legs a little while her hands worked.

But then her eyes were momentarily blinded. With a gasp, Bella fell backwards so something completely dazzled her - but she hit something hard and solid long before she'd expected to be hitting the ground.

With the wind knocked out of her, and her exhausted limbs quietly crying to her, she quickly crumbled down into the strong arms. Her brain didn't even register how cold they were, or how the scent of vampire that she knew so well drifted to her nose. Fog had descended in her brain, and she was quickly falling unconscious.

Vaguely, distantly, she could hear. "Hello? Hello? Are you alright? Why do you smell of wolf?"

Breathlessly, she was able to just mutter, "...wolf?" Then her eyes rolled back, and she'd completely fainted. Oscar-worthy, really.

Groggily, she awoke some time later in a very soft, warm bed. Cramp in her leg had woken her, so she carefully sat up with small winces and whines until the pain eventually ebbed away. Then she looked up to examine the room, and practically leapt atop the headboard of the bed! There were five vampires - they didn't have red eyes but she knew what vegetarian eyes looked like - staring down at her.

"Fucking hate my blood," She mumbled, and smoothed back her hair while facing all of them with a hard glare. "Come to have a share of me? Sorry, but my blood belong to someone already, and they really don't like to share. And they don't like me being gone too long, either." Her voice was sharp, but her words were purposeful - letting them know she knew about them, making it seem there was another vampire nearby and also making it clear they would be looking for her. They didn't know it would actually be her human but danger-repellent husband.

"Hello to you, too," A blonde female suddenly snapped, then stormed out the room. Her actions caused Bella to flinch, and fully set her brain within a very panicked fight or flight mode.

"Ahem," Another blonde, but male, suddenly fake coughed. "Hello. My name is Carlisle, and I am a doctor-"

"Yeah, yeah." Bella quickly waved for him to be quiet. "You're the Cullen's, you only drink from animals yada yada yada. You're rather infamous within the vampire community outside of your little bubbles. I've heard everything and more than I'd ever need to hear about you lot. And if you don't mind, I'd rather like to get back to my husband."

She'd gone off on one, rambling. But, at that moment, she really didn't care. They could fight their urge to eat her, just about, but she wasn't planning on sticking around long enough to find out just how long.

"You have a husband?" A bronze head suddenly sprung around the door, and flared into her skull.

"Yes."

"Is he the wolf then?" The bronze head quoted a brow.

Bella's heart suddenly tightened, stopping beating for a short time before suddenly accelerating upwards. The brief words shared between her and one of these vampires suddenly came to mind - she'd smelt of wolf?

Wolf? She'd never gone near one in her life, except one time at a zoo. W... werewolf? No, she'd vaguely heard of those before - they were rare; few and far between. And they were extremely dangerous - with no ability to control themselves during the transformation.

Besides, she only spent time with Jacob and he wasn't... wasn't a wolf..?

Suddenly, it felt as though she was being sucked up inside her body. There was a flash of a large, hulking body walking towards her as she began to lose consciousness all those months ago - at the time she'd thought it was a man but now she could see it had been a wolf. Then voices whispered over her; "They can't reach you here, nothing can hurt you here." "What, you're some kind of danger repellent?" "Something like that, sure."

Not a danger repellent at all, her brain finally clicked. She was married to a man somehow a part of the supernatural - and was powerful enough to scare away even vampires.

Again, her heart did it's strange rhythm, and then she was dragged back into control of her own body.

"Tell me what he is." Even to herself, her voice sounded dead.

* * *

After searching through the whole cave, Jacob had become manic. Desperately, his wolf began to claw at him - he wanted out so he could help search for Bella. But they had ten more days until they would separate - just ten more and Jacob would be fully human, and his wolf a full wolf. Why had his wife have to disappear now?

Jacob stormed out the cave, and relied upon his naturally heightened senses to search out his wife. Her scent was a few hours old, and clear. However, it was beginning to look like rain was gathering above him, so he was going to have to run as fast as he could if he didn't want to lose the trail.

So he did just that.

Within just ten minutes, he'd reached the usual herb patch his wife went to - she wasn't there. The clouds were gathering faster; he had to hurry.

Forty minutes later he reached the clearing with the other small herb patch. He was sure he'd only mentioned this in passing to his wife - how had she found it?

But then intense fire was bubbling its way up his back - the smell of vampire was all around him, burning his nostrils on every inhale and exhale.

What was his wife doing with Cold Ones?

Breathe. He had to breathe, or else he'd have to start all over again, or worse, become switched about with his bodies. Breathe.

Once calmed, he opened his eyes and inhaled for the scent of the vampire again, and realised he knew it. A Cullen. He relaxed at that, a little. They were veggies, so hopefully that meant they could resist her. Another inhale confirmed there was no blood around that belonged to Bella.

So he began running again, this time he knew exactly where to go though - the Cullen house.

* * *

Some twisted part of her brain laughed deeply at her, while she found herself once again running through the woods - already covered in cuts - in an attempt to get away from vampires. That same part of her whispered dreaded what ifs to her.

What if they were telling the truth? What if they just wanted to protect her? What if she'd stayed? What if she'd really listened?

What if all she wanted was to run into the arms of her husband, a man who could transform into a wolf!? More importantly, what if he really was a monster that nearly killed his pregnant girlfriend in an attack?

At that point all her energy drained from her. No longer able to run, she just stumbled along, and deja vu kicked her in the ass as her foot again fell down a rabbit hole and she fell forward, hard.

The only difference was that it was raining, so her hair and clothes were glued down to her body, which shivered from cold and pain. At least her tears just melted into the rain.

Crawling on all fours, she buried herself under a brush at the roots of a tree, curled up in a ball and began to wait - either to die or to be found. She didn't know or care anymore.

Suddenly though, there was a lurch from within her stomach. Her face became a strange shade of pale yellow, horrified and terrified. Had she eaten something bad? Any attempt at swallowing it down completely failed, and the contents of her stomach emptied out beside her.

The smell stung her nose, and she spewed out pure bile.

Turning away, she began to crawl away from her mess, and hoped the rain would wash away any that was on her. She wished she was naive, but she knew the truth, and wept even harder.

* * *

Jacob ran hard towards the Cullen house, and the heaven's finally broke apart to pour rain down upon his back. His brain was running wild, even faster than his body, supplying images of his screaming wife, being dragged through the forest, possibly getting herself hurt. She was so easily hurt by herself, had been hurt so much by the world. He didn't want to imagine what a vampire might do to her accidentally, never mind on purpose, but his mind was imagining it anyway.

The rain was beginning to dampen the scents, but he stopped short when he noticed a fresher trail that was just Bella, leading away from the Cullen house. His feet spun him away, and right into the faces of three vampires.

"What have you done with her?" His voice was entirely animalistic, punctuated by growls and snarls - the words completely unintelligible to human ears. Not that he cared in that moment.

One stepped forward. "She fainted, but was completely unharmed when she left-"

"You let her leave in this weather?" Jacob suddenly thundered, his skin rippling and his body shaking, but it was his wolf that dragged himself back - pushed the human forward. 'You want to be human,' the wolf whispered in his mind.

Another vampire piqued up suddenly. "His wolf is detached enough that they have completely separate thoughts. He's trying to become human."

Both man and wolf growled out. "Stay out of my head!" With that, he charged, but he ran straight through them instead of attacking. He had a wife to get to.

Understandably, his human body was much slower than a vampire, yet Bella hadn't been far at all - close enough to hear their exchange. There was a strange smell to her, but since it wasn't blood he didn't care and simply drew her to him.

"Bella?" Nearly unconscious, her eyes blinked lazily at him, and a rough shiver travelled through her body like a monsoon. Some instinct to get warm made her cling to him, and he hugged her back just as tight, wrapping her little body up with his body as much as possible. Then she fell asleep, but at least he was warm enough to keep her safe.

"Jacob," a cold voice called to him, and the rain suddenly faded away to some dim sunlight - the clouds had moved on. When he turned, the cold ones were glowing it up like crystals. He snarled at them, his wolf raised to the surface in a fierce surge to protect. Three vampires were getting too close to his wife and he just wanted to take her home and keep her safe-

In a furious burst, his wolf jumped forward with a terrifying snarl. Bella's body slid to the ground, safely cradled within his paws. If there weren't vampires, he would've allowed a surge of pride to flow through him that he hadn't even scratched her a little.

But there were vampires, and the instant Bella was on the ground he was spinning to look down upon them. His was a big, brown, fluffy, pissed off killing machine, looking to bite some vampire ass.

Biting the air, he charged at the three, catching the mind reader on the shoulder and shaking his head, while continuing forward to eventually throw the Cold One hard into a tree. An arm remained within his mouth, which he spat away from him.

Tunnel vision overcame him, filtered red by pure rage. Within minutes, the mind readers head was being thrown aside towards the arm, and then a pile was being burned before Jacob fully came back to himself. The other vampires were gone, he guessed to go alert the rest of their "family".

Carefully, he approached the woman who was his family now, picked her up and carried her home.

* * *

The feeling of a heavy arm over her waist was initially a comfort, but as her stomach lurched it became an issue. She managed to throw it off by the second lurch, and get away from the cave enough to comfortably empty her stomach by the third lurch. A sound of disgust left her mouth once she was finished, and a hand rubbed absentmindedly at her stomach.

A few calming breaths later, and a mouth wash, saw her returning to her bed feeling rather weak and unsteady.

By then everything rushed back to her - the vampires she'd met, what they'd said to her, running away, Jacob finding her-

He'd thought her asleep, but she hadn't been. Not quite, at least. His thunderous roar as he transformed around her easily awakened her, but the sight of the shiny brown wolf (that she was having difficulty remind herself was her husband) charging head first towards three vampires had made her fully faint, again.

Her breath caught in her throat. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but didn't get past her eye lashes. For a moment, she just stared at her sleeping husband, arm reaching out to where she slept, his mouth open in a shape she used to think of as adorable, and a soft snore leaving his throat. But all she can truly see if fur, and torn clothes, and a wolf fighting a vampire! Three vampires!

Naively, she'd believed the supernatural side of the world had finally decided to leave her alone. But no. Fate or whatever drove the world around just had to allow her to marry into the supernatural world.

A shuddered breath left her, and she felt disconnected entirely from her body. Panic mode? Survival mode? She didn't know, but just watched as her body walked through the trees, and somehow found its way back to the vampire house.

Vampires, she knew. Vampires, she understood. Werewolves? She didn't know. Werewolves? She didn't understand.

Her husband? Well, he'd lied to her and betrayed her more than she ever could have realised with the vampires she now stood before.

All she did was nod for a while. "Please help me, to help you."

* * *

Jacob awoke groggily to an empty bed and a bad head. Like, really bad head. He almost questioned what he'd been drinking, before remembering he hadn't had an alcoholic drink for years. And he definitely hadn't been drinking last night.

When he sat up, he found his whole body aching. It was as though each bone was slowly breaking, then quickly snapping back to where they belong before continuing to slowly break again.

With a grunt, of pain an exhaustion, he pushed himself forward. The thought of Bella enabled him to do feats of near impossibility.

The sight that met him once he left the safety of his cave rocked him to his core though - all six remaining Cullen vampires and the wife he'd fervently protected. Internally, he felt out within himself for his wolf, but he must've been hiding somewhere.

"Bella?" His voice was weak, strained, pained.

"How could you have lied to me so?" Her voice was small, and distant.

"Bella, I-" He cut himself off, a deep pain in both sides of his ribs. It felt as though they would crush up his lungs any second.

"Can't even make an excuse?" Her weak voice suddenly became strong as she shouted out! "Can't even justify keeping my father from me?"

A tear fell down his face as he fell to his knees. "Bella..."

But she turned from him then, her back being the last thing he saw before the vampires tore him apart.

* * *

More months past. Bella was now living with her father, who was disbelieving at first - why was his daughter in Forks when she'd cut him off from her life years ago? But after some tear filled explanations, he understood why.

Happily, she helped care for her adopted siblings. Slowly, she became like a mother figure to them, which greatly benefitted Charlie, who really didn't know what to do with pre-pubescent girls and boys. Babies, the police could handle. Kids, the police chief could handle. Preteens and up? He definitely couldn't.

But eventually Bella found herself on the Reservation, talking to an old man who refused to smiled at her entirely. Her siblings played out in the back garden, while Charlie spoke with other adults and some men she presumed to be around her age. They all remind her of him, though.

"You're the wife, then?" Old Quil pointed to a silver band that was wrapped around the ring finger of Bella's left hand. It was one of the last few things she had left to remind herself of her husband. The husband she had murder-

"Yes, I suppose." Bella felt herself retreat inside her body again, trying to get away from the conversation. A fake smile graced her face.

Old Quil suddenly walked over to her on surprisingly steady legs, his hands covering her belly before she could make an protest. Something beneath his hands kicked her sharply.

"I thought as much..." Old Quil mumbled, releasing her to grab a cane to support his weight upon. "About six months along, you have a good strong pup within you."

His words made a lightning strike of shock shoot through from her heart to her brain, and she was suddenly yanked back into the control seat of her body. Yanked into engaging in a conversation she'd previously been and currently was unable to handle. "I- What?"

Her hands gripped her stomach in the stereotypical protective position that a mother does over her bump.

"You heard." Gently, he poked at her stomach. "I reckon that'll be our next alpha."

Bella paled, and she wasn't entirely sure what happened after that. All she knew was that she'd fainted some point after those last words were spoken.

* * *

Bella had tried everything. Abortion hadn't been allowed. Beating her stomach had failed. Even flinging herself off the cliffs, twice, had done nothing to "shake away" the child, as she thought of it.

She didn't want it. It was a monster, a part of the supernatural world which she loathed. "Our next Alpha", was what he'd called it. Rethinking those words made hate and anger flood straight through her, and usually personified itself in another attempt to get rid of her pregnancy.

Before speaking with Old Quil, she'd naturally loved and almost bonded with her little bump. Before, she would've protected them until the end. But not now - all she wanted was this child to be gone, to no longer exist. Even if she failed though, she supposed the wolves would take her baby away. She was going to save herself the pain of breaking the strong bond that would've formed naturally and severed by wolves, but breaking the loose bond she'd formed herself. Self inflicted pain was something new to her, but she fully believed she could handle it.

According to the doctors, and the vampires who kept up regular visits, her due date was soon. Internally, she was so glad the fortune-teller one could see her future at all - something about naturally being a shield as well as being due to the child she carried. It meant no one knew of her post-natal plans.

With a deep, strong breath she left her family house through the back door, walking straight into the woods. It took a several hours, with quite a few stops due to her no longer being as fit as she had been, as well as the slight difficulty of being very heavily pregnant. But she just gritted her teeth and pushed on through.

The steep climb up to the winding caves felt like it was going to kill her, and she had to sit on a smoothed our rock for several minutes to regain her breath.

She took a moment to just look out into the trees, listening to the birds and watching little squirrels hurry to hide their food reserves. When she'd waddled past some of the planting fields, she'd noticed a lot of it had been eaten by others, since it'd all been left unprotected.

Her hand brushed against something rough, and she looked down to see what it was. A lump formed in her throat as she saw the letters 'B+J' cut deep into the rock. She swallowed thickly, thought of rough growls, russet fur and sharp claws rather than soft whispers, gentle kisses and warm embraces.

She pushed on.

Getting lost in the caves was easy, and she regretted not making sure to have it memorised. A stretching rock cut her leg, but the thought of the medical supplies at the end of the tunnel kept her going. Finally, the light of day stretched out before her - at the same time she felt her waters break.

Wild panic set in, and she hurried the rest of the way through the cliffs, probably cutting her scarred to hell skin again but she just didn't care.

It was a hard labour, and she was extremely lucky to have no complications. She didn't care that she was alone, she didn't want anyone near her. Specifically, she didn't want anyone to know what she was planning.

Already, her sob story was set in her mind. 'I was following a deer that looked hurt, I fell down a deep burrow and gave birth to a stillborn there' was the gist of it, but she was going to have to force some tears out here and there. Everyone believes a grieving mother that's grieving stereotypically.

Finally, her sleeping baby girl was curled up in some blankets on the other side of the bed to Bella, who had treated and bandaged all her cuts roughly before giving birth and was now re-doing it all patiently. Infection wasn't something she really wanted.

A soft cry reached her ears, and caused a twang to go off in her heart. No, she thought, the child is a monster. A supernatural being that has no place being in this world. To hell with this.

Her hand gripped the sharp farming tool firmly, her breaths escaped her body roughly and quickly. She had to do this. It had to be done.

With an angry cry, she turned to strike the swaddle of blankets. But the baby had slightly escaped, had wiggles out a little in its sleep. Her blow hit only blankets, not the baby.

Tears fell from Bella eyes suddenly, and for a moment she couldn't see. When her vision cleared - all she could see was the unharmed sleeping child.

It-she was... adorable. Human. Her skin was pale, though slightly darker than Bella's. A lot of her features were just pure Bella, expect the shape of her lips. They were big, full and rounded perfectly. Then her baby opened her eyes, just for a moment, and her dead husband's eyes stared back at her.

The baby made a gurgling noise, then returned to sleeping. The sound made a painful pang hit Bella right in her heart again. She'd nearly killed this child - nearly not heard that beautiful sound.

She was a monster herself - how had she considered killing a baby for so long? She was a sinner, she'd already killed her husband and now she wanted to kill their child? She was despicable.

Completely unfit to be this perfect child's mother.

Quickly, she looked over her child and noticed a small birth mark on her baby's hand - she released a sigh. If she was ever able to atone her sins, and allow herself to refund her child, at least there was some way to recognise her baby.

Methodically, she set to work. And soon, a sleeping baby wrapped in blankets was set adrift along the river within a tightly woven basket, her weeping mother following the basket for as long as she dared. It was all she could think to do at the time, and she wept fiercely as her legs finally gave out from under her, and she crumbled to the ground.

She would find her baby, one day.

* * *

**There is a happy-ish ending planned, but I'm already two days over when I said I'd post this. I will be editting the segments into chapters for easier reading, so I may add the alternate ending once that is done! Thanks for reading, let me hear your thoughts please :)**

**Go to chapter 21 to read the happier ending!**


	2. Run

The bushes scratching at her arms and legs no longer bothered her. There wasn't much left for them to cut anyway - she'd been running for so long and so hard that she didn't feel the pain anymore.

Her breaths came out harshly. Loudly. She sought to cover her mouth in an attempt to quieten them. It was useless though - they were right behind her.

Really, they could've grabbed her an hour ago easily. They were just following her, taunting her, until she passed out and became an even easier target.

She refused. She would not die like this, would not become a meal for some wandering, damned vampires!

So she ran, in complete vain but she had to try. Maybe they would get bored, maybe they would decide to just call it a day and go fuck instead. Then again, for all she knew they'd just fuck and get right back on her trail.

'Fucks sake, why does this always happen to me?' She thought. 'Oh yeah, because my damned down to hell blood is meant to be some siren call to all these fucking vamps. Well, sorry to them, but I rather like my blood where it is.'

Up ahead there was a small rabbit hole she couldn't see. A useless glance over her shoulder resulted in her foot going right down into it, the speed she was travelling at resulted in extreme pain shooting up her whole leg as her body continued forward without her foot.

"Ah, fuck." Released from her mouth before she could stop it.

Nothing was broken, from what she could tell. It was painful enough that she now struggled to even limp.

Hobbling, she just made it to the closest tree. Her hand gripped the bark tight, making it now the only thing keeping her upright. Now that she'd stopped, the aches in her muscles and joints started to scream, and her mind became frenzied. Her cuts began to bleed more heavily without pressure from the air to keep the blood within.

No strength left, she crumbled to the ground. Here, she would die - she only hoped it was before the pair of vamps came to have their fill of her.

Vision fading, but her instinct to survive still keeping her eyes open in a valiant attempt to sense danger, she thought she saw a figure approaching. It wasn't either vampire she'd run into previously, this figure was much bigger.

But then she no longer cared, and faded away out of consciousness.


	3. Hunt

After hurting his girlfriend, and non-imprint, after getting too riled up he just couldn't face anyone anymore. Everyone had cast him looks of sympathy or anger. Everyone hated him for hurting her, only a few had tried to forgive him.

Poor Angela had been carrying his child... his child he'd accidentally ripped out of her when he'd nearly torn her into pieces. One part of him blamed her - who got close to someone already extremely pissed off and just started screaming to them about nothing consequential? Who gave a flying fuck about the colour scheme of a room? He sure fucking hadn't at the time - his wolf even less so judging by what he'd done to the girl.

The rest of him knew it was all his own fault though. He'd not told her what he was. He hadn't explained why it was dangerous to be around him now. He hadn't explained why he couldn't be home as often as before. He hadn't done anything to prevent it, not heeded Sam and Emily's lesson and most certainly not listened to his wolf.

The wolf inside him that had refused to allow a pup to grow inside a woman that wasn't his mate... the fucking bastard.

Jacob had abandoned the pack, once he knew Angela would live. Unable to face anyone, he used what little alpha power Sam had taught him to completely sever the bond he'd had with his pack. As a wolf and a human, his head was empty and quiet.

Surprisingly, it was terrifying and relaxing all in one - as though he was missing a limb that should never had been there. It was right to have cut it out, but he still felt the pain and phantom-feelings left behind from it.

Some days, he thought he could still hear Paul and Jared jokingly fighting together about something trivial. Sometimes, he could hear his old pack laughing, joking, and playing.

It was all fake though - his mind was completely silent and empty besides his own thoughts. And he had to learn to love it, because that's all he was ever going to know.

In solitude, he'd made his home in the woods. It took him three months to construct a nice shelter within a spacious cave he'd found; Ensuring he wouldn't get his head bashed in from falling rocks had been fun, and required a lot of cut down trees, but he'd had infinite bundles of time.

Now, rather than a nice mattress that was too small for him, he had a big stone slab covered in furs to sleep on. Occasionally he stayed in wolf form to sleep on it, so his own fur was mixed up in there from summer months.

Living both as a human and a wolf was, well, almost ideal. His wolf body meant drinking from the streams and rivers didn't disgust him, and he could eat meat raw if he really wanted. Hunting was easy, especially considering he was a lot bigger than the natural wolves in the area.

He'd cleared a small field when getting trees to secure his house, which he used to grow food. Inside his home, he kept a fire always burning for cooking food and for light. Rarely, it was also used for when he ran across some Cold Ones that weren't the Cullen's. Since he still lived on reservation land, just, any vampire he came across was fair game.

Recently, he'd killed one and managed to scare off two others. That had annoyed him - it meant they knew where he was. That alone made him itch, and constantly on edge for an attack.

It was during a hunting trip, following a small herd of deer silently, that he came across the scents - a human girl and those two vampires that had evaded him. Anger flooded him, and he would have transformed quicker than a pup if he wasn't already in his wolf form - how dare some Cold Ones not only come back into his territory but also hunt in it!?

Tearing through the trees, it didn't take long to catch up to them. The girl was running pretty fast, for a human, and must have been going at it for a while. They were miles away from the nearest road.

The cold ones were practically walking along the ground, taunting and waiting for her to tire out. They were staying downwind of her though, not following her direct scent like Jacob had.

This fact made him grin, it meant they couldn't smell him. She was also the sole focus of their attention - her scent was amazing to him, so it must have been just as nice but in a different way to them. If he wasn't so angry, he might've been sick at the thought.

Swiftly, he took down the female who was lagging slightly behind her mate. Jacob had observed the three a little before he had previously attacked their companion - he knew this female to be good at evading fights. Her mate was a hot head, and would be easily distracted by the death of his mate.

That was, if he was correct.

The red headed female fought back hard, but Jacob was an alpha - big and very strong. He ripped her head off before she could make much sound.

A hard force leapt onto his back then, punching him hard and he was pretty sure he heard and felt his side rip open. Bastard had punched him and cut him.

Spinning, Jacob refused to let it bother him, and fought against the male vampire with everything left in him - ripping away his arm for revenge against the cut on his side.

"Go home, little mutt. The girl will die today anyway." The vampire grinned, and darted away after the girl. With only a second of hesitation, Jacob charged after him, and grabbed his other arm when he caught up.

Armless, but still with teeth, the vampire went to bite him - this forced Jacob to retreat a little. With the cut on his side and possibly other injuries internally, Jacob wasn't going to risk getting venom in his system.

The fight morphed into a circling dance, each trying and failing to bite each other. It was only when they both heard the girl give off a cry somewhere in the distance that the vampire was momentarily distracted - enough for Jacob to rip away his head too.

Releasing a huff, he turned to examine his side. It wasn't deep, but it was long. Hopefully, it would heal pretty quickly.

Transforming human, the cut seemed to hurt even more. Thankfully, it was clean from what he could tell, and was already healing.

Giving one last glance to both vampires he'd felled, ensuring they were both immobilised for the time being, he ran to find the girl.

Approaching slowly once he found her, he assessed she was nearing unconsciousness, covered in cuts on all skin that wasn't covered, and had hurt her leg. Otherwise though, she appeared to be alright - meaning she hadn't been bitten.

Quickly, he retreated away to transform and put on some shorts.

Easily, he picked her up and ran to his home. It wasn't far, but rather difficult to reach - with a rather steep climb and thick trees to weave through, then a winding series of tunnels before a clearing that lead to his own cave. The original finding of it had been an accident when chasing a deer.

Carefully, he placed her down on his bed and examined her foot tentatively. It was bruised, but not swollen, so he took a guess that it wasn't sprained or broken. He cleaned her small wounds with what little he had, and ripped up a shirt to use as a bandage for a large cut on her arm.

Since she was still unconscious, and he couldn't see a head injury, he just left her wrapped in furs to dispose of the vampires.

Piling the pieces up didn't feel like a good idea with a human in his cave, so he instead transformed into his wolf form and put each piece that he carried back straight into the fire. His cave already stank of vampires from their companion's death the other day, so he wasn't too bothered by the smoke or smells.

Being conscious of the human girl though, he used a large fur blanket to fan the smoke towards the entrance. It wouldn't be very good for the human to die of smoke inhalation.

Towards night, the flames eventually died down and there was very little vampire left, so Jacob stoked the fire and finally added more wood to keep it going.

With a glance back towards the human girl, and another towards his dwindling pile of wood, he breathed a deep sigh before leaving to gather more.


	4. Devour

Fuzzily, she awoke feeling very warm. Her vision was very blurry, but her other senses came back to her much faster.

Whatever she was lying upon was very soft, and she had to guess it was wool or fur.

A groan released from her mouth involuntary as she tried to move - every muscle in her body ached. They screamed for her to just sleep - but she could remember those two vampires. Remembered their grinning faces as they offered to let her run, and she'd taken the offer by spinning away and running as hard as she could. She wasn't safe, she'd never be safe. You could only kill a vampire with fire, and even then she highly doubted she could've tricked either of them into walking into a fire. Not that she would've had time to build one while running for her life.

She forced herself to sit up, and waited for her eyes to work again. With her empty stomach screaming at her, she realised she was probably nearing starvation. There was very little food available to her, in her way of life, but usually got by. Recently, what with her best friend having only just joined her in her lifestyle (not by choice), she'd been giving her friend half her wages to make the transition easier. At the time, she knew it was only temporary and she could survive for a few weeks on less food - she could spare a few pounds on her thighs and stomach anyway. Now, she was seriously regretting that decision.

That is, until she spotted some dried meat a little ways away. Tentatively, she shuffled along to the end of the bed - no, a big flat rock covered in enough furs to make it feel like a cloud. How strange.

Pushing away thoughts of animal welfare and how bad buying furs was, she just focused on the meat and carefully continued towards it. Remembering her foot, she carefully put pressure on it. Of course, it hurt, but she'd sprained and broken both ankles a lot before. She knew what both felt like - and so she knew her foot was just bruised up.

Again, she pushed away any thoughts of who had taken off her shoe and examined her foot.

Grabbing the food, she carefully examined it as much as her hunger allowed. It looked well cooked - smoked? - she didn't know or care, but it looked edible so she ate it. Her stomach settled afterwards, and she settled back down into the furs. Whatever had happened, she could find out after she'd rested some more.


	5. Equipment

Jacob figured he'd been gone about an hour, but he'd gathered enough wood to last him a few days. He carefully lowered the wood carrier he'd built, from wood and furs. Hopefully, he hadn't been too loud to wake the unconscious girl.

Years of fixing up cars meant he was very good with his hands, and building tools to make things easier on himself had become a bit of a hobby. Deeper into the cave, there was a plethora of tools from his old life, as well as new ones he'd had to make. Money would be nothing to him currently, if he didn't have a bad habit of ruining his clothes and breaking said tools. So, occasionally, he would sell meat or fix someone's car fairly cheaply on the Reservation or in town - the butcher had a personal liking for rabbit, and the police chief very much enjoyed fish or venison. There was always someone to make a few dollars from.

And it was with that money that he planned to run out in the morning and buy the girl some proper, clean clothes.

Naturally, he wasn't one to judge, but he could tell what line of business she was in. Old blood and other stains covered her barely-there jacket, she was wearing shorts in early spring and her shoes had holes in. He hadn't checked, of course, but he'd guess she was wearing a rather revealing shirt. So, he was going to take the executive decision to buy her some warmer clothes - as a kindness at least, and since he figured she'd have to stay with him until her foot was better. Personally, if he had been in her place, he would not have wanted to be hobbling around in the same attire as she was in with a strange man walking about. That was him though, and he just hoped she wouldn't take offence.

After a short nap, dawn came and he left to go for a run to the nearest shop. He'd be gone all of about an hour if he ran most of the way as a wolf. So, he tied his clothes to his ankle (checking twice that his wallet was securely tied on too) then bounded away as a big russet wolf.


	6. Converse

Again, she awoke to an empty cave. This time, she could manage her hunger and instead focused on where she was. It was a cave, but it looked like a wooden hut had been built inside, probably to protect from falling stalactites. The walls were all the natural rock, with strong felled trees being used to support the structure rather than cut beams - she guessed then that this hadn't been a very expensive venture. Not that she exactly cared - it probably still cost more than her "home".

Feeling a little vulnerable, she pulled a fur blanket around herself - she was surprised that it was a bear skin and not an actual manufactured blanket. There were even cuts in it from where the person had attacked - or maybe they'd used hunting dogs, on account of how the cuts looked to have been made from another animal.

Sincerely, she hoped her saviour wasn't some crazy madman that lived out here in the woods, wearing just a loincloth with unkept hair and raggedy beard. Then again, if it was a man resembling Tarzan in a loincloth, she wouldn't be too against becoming his Jane. Shacking up with a wild man that couldn't speak English was a much nicer idea at the moment than the living situation she'd previously been in.

Sitting by the fire, she carefully added some more wood to it.

"Ah, for fucks sake!" She shouted as she accidentally burnt the back of her hand. "Fuck, bastard, bollocks..."

A continuing stream of profanities left her mouth as she clutched at her hand, and limped out the cave in search of water. The only thing she knew about burns was to put them in or under water as quickly as possible.

There was thankfully a small stream, which she threw her hand into. Her eyes had teared up from the pain, but she refused to let any fall. Bella Swan did not cry.

"Oh, you're awake."

A voice behind her shocked her enough to make her let off a loud scream, spin on her bad foot and fall on her ass! This just further injured her foot though, so she let off another scream!

"Ow..." She whined, tentatively reaching out to her ankle. Definitely sprained now. "Ah fuck sake."

Hanging his head a little, the man that had scared her slowly approached. She kept her eyes on him, but something within her told her not to fear him. She knew the worst of the worst of men, and vampires. She didn't fear men or what they might do to her, but she still didn't trust them. That something within her, maybe an instinct developed from her lifestyle, let her know that he wasn't the kind of man that would hurt her.

Getting down to her level, but still about two feet away, he smiled gently, sweetly. "Hi. I'm really sorry about that."

The apology made her relax a little, and she felt almost comfortable in his presence, so she waved it off. "I'm easy to injure, super clumsy and that. I'm kinda used to it by now." A nervous laugh left her mouth.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd genuinely laughed.

The man sighed. "Well, feeling up to walking or should I carry you inside again?"

"Carry me, please. I only came out here because I burnt my hand a little, I'm pretty exhausted from that short walk." After being in her line of work for so long, she no longer gave any fucks about being touched by any man. This one, which her instinct was telling her would never hurt her, she figured would never touch her inappropriately either.

The man smiled, and carefully carried her back inside, cradling her within his big, muscular arms.

The next few hours were rather awkward on both their parts, he scurried about offering her food, water (which he promised had been treated with a tablet) and even some new clothes he'd admitted he'd left to buy for her. Rather than being insulted, she thought it quite sweet.

While she was getting changed, he'd left saying he was going to get food.

He returned a little while later with a whole deer!

It had a big bite mark on its neck, clearly how it had been killed, so again she just assumed he had a hunting dog or two, and just didn't question it.

Her sole attention was upon his hands, listening but not really taking anything in as he explained how to skin the deer, and then how to prepare the meat. She just kept thinking of how good this Tarzan's rough hands would feel upon her - she hadn't felt pleasure in so long that being around this ray of sunshine stirred up feelings she thought had been long buried.

Though, he wasn't quite Tarzan. His skin was a clear olive, with a few scars marring it in areas, hair was such a dark black it almost looked blue and was cropped short, and he wore normal clothes - not a loincloth. She was almost disappointed about that last part.

However, while he was pure muscle like Tarzan, she decided he was far more buffed up and a lot taller, with far superior posture. Then again, she highly doubted he'd been raised by apes and been expected to walk and talk like them.

Only once they started eating did they really start to talk.

"How's your foot? I am, genuinely really sorry about that." He bit his lip in a way that, under normal circumstances, might have made her leap across the fire and into his lap.

"Erm," She squeaked at her thoughts, but covered it with a convincing cough. "I've had worse, though if you have any painkillers they'd be great right now."

Slowly, he shook his head, then shrugged. "Not unless you count weed."

She burst out laughing at how casually he'd said it. "I think I'll pass, thanks." They smiled at each other, then she just had to ask; "So, you got a name or am I just gonna keep referring to you as Tarzan in my head?"

The man across from her nearly choked on his food, and once he managed to swallow he bellowed out a laugh that made her heart bloom. "Tarzan? Nah, my name is Jacob Black. I used to live on the Reservation, but um... some stuff happened and, I found myself here. Not quite raised by the apes, I'm afraid." He shot her a grin that made butterflies flutter in her stomach.

"Well, I'm Bella Swan." She nearly reached to shake his hand, but stopped herself just before she burnt herself, again.

Jacob let off a little laugh at her idiocy, and she giggled nervously. It still surprised her that she'd managed to live to be twenty five.

"So," Jacob spoke once he'd calmed down. "What's your story? How'd you end up all the way out here?" He was leaning back against a rock, a little closer to her now. He'd wolfed down his food faster that she could've imagined possible!

It was his last question that turned her spine to ice. Her eyes darted to the cave entrance, half expecting to see two grinning vampires there just waiting for her. They weren't though, and she let off a deep sigh.

She couldn't tell him the truth - he'd definitely laugh loud and proud if she said she was being chased by two vampires. Two vampires that had promised to let her live if she could run all the way to Canada before they caught her.

She hadn't even know if she was running in the right direction, she'd just ran... stupid, stupid!

But then her eyes swung back to his, and although she wasn't initially going to tell him the whole truth her - instinct or whatever - told her she could tell him her whole life story. She was safe here. Whoever this Jacob guy was, she felt safe as long as he was near, and she could trust him.

"I was..." A pause to gather her breath, and close her eyes so she didn't have to see him laugh at her. "I was being chased by two vampires."

To her complete surprise, there was no laughter. Her eyes slowly opened to see him just politely smiling at her. "I know, and it's okay. They can't reach you here, nothing can hurt you here."

For a moment she just looked at him skeptically, then jokingly smirked. "What, you're some kind of danger repellent?"

He nodded, completely serious. "Something like that, sure."

Well that stopped her, but got her curiosity beating at her to ask all kinds of questions. However, experience told her not to ask and just go with it. "Cool."


	7. Recuperate

Days passed, and her foot got worse before it got better. Unable to walk on it, she had to rely heavily upon her new friend Jacob for a lot of stuff. Helping her go to the toilet was the most embarrassing, but he just stood with his back to her and magically conjured a roll of toilet paper whenever she asked.

She'd decided on her first, technically second, night with Jacob that she was just not going to question anything. There were no dogs, but every time he came back with another dead animal, it had clearly been attack by some other animal. But she just skinned it, with his help since she still hadn't figured it out fully. His hands still distracted her.

A few weeks later, she was able to walk. This was a blessed freedom to her, and she used it to explore the inside and outside of the cave. It was only now that she learned a new side of Jacob.

Whatever flowers she'd smelled that day, she later found tied in a small bunch upon her - well, their bed, but on her side. It made her lips curl and her fist rise up to her mouth in order to hide a grin. His actions where slightly stalker-esque, but she knew he only meant to be sweet. She soon found herself mentally referring to him as 'Tarzan' less, and as 'Fluffy Marshmallow' more.

He even wordlessly accommodated her monthly needs. She'd barely begun to get the warning cramps when Jacob tentatively handed her a brown paper bag filled with an assortment of women products - including chocolate!

Again, she questioned nothing.

Eventually, one night when they were cuddling near the fire, Bella decided to indulge him on the not so pleasant story that was her life. Jacob had revealed himself to be a very physical person, which she didn't mind at all. It only extended to holding her hand, putting his arm around her shoulders when they walked together and giving her a hug when he'd been away for a few hours. And, though they slept next to each other, it was only as friends.


	8. Revelate

I was born in Forks and raised there by my father - the chief of Police. He was a very good father, though a little awkward at times. Especially whenever I wanted him to come play with me on the swings or something while out in public. Being in his line of work, I suppose he didn't like to appear overly human or leave himself open to having a vulnerability.

When I was eight years old, my mother suddenly put in an appeal to have full custody of me instead - claiming that my life of being taken care of by "strangers" was less than the life she could give me. She worked as an at-home interior decorator, clothes designer and other jobs I just didn't care to learn. Nevertheless, she was rolling in money - and was married now to some big shot baseball player.

The courts gave her full custody, without even an investigation into who the 'strangers that looked after me' were. They just took her word for it. The stranger was my dad's fiancé, and she was much less of a stranger to me than my own mother.

As soon as I arrived in the hot air of Arizona, I hated it. It was the complete opposite of Forks, which I favoured for its trees, rain and clouds. Arizona had sun, heat and sand. I could not stand the place.

My mother made things worse - she'd presumed I was just like her. Girly, pink-loving, Forks-hating, flighty, giggly, etcetera etcetera. The bedroom she'd designed for me was all pink, with dolls on all the shelves and in all the toy boxes. I'd looked at her dumbfounded, and clearly said, "I haven't played with dolls since I was three."

Since I'd picked up a wrench and tried to help my dad fix his truck, to be exact.

My mother laughed at this, said something about that changing, then flitted out of the room like a hummingbird.

I threw the dolls all out my window, only keeping one that was dressed in a leather jacket and had blue hair - I only liked her. I filled the spaces where the dolls had been with my books on cars, dinosaurs and a few on guns. All the traditional tomboy things - pretty cliche really. My dad had wanted a child he could relate to - a son ideally I suppose, but he just treated me as he would've treated any of his children. Not that I know whether he had more children - my mother refused him any contact with me.

At the time, the only thing considered girly about myself was my love for My Little Pony. I filled the toy boxes with my collection, and put my favourites on the spare spaces of the shelves.

When my mother noticed the changes, she was absolutely horrified. So much so, she smacked me hard enough to leave a bruise, and refused to let me out my room until morning.

By that point, I hadn't eaten since I'd had breakfast with my father that morning. I was starving.

In the years to come, that was the normalcy.

My mother insisted on homeschooling me, which meant watching Victorian-era films, reading books about how women were inferior and learning "how to be a lady". I hated it more than the intense heat outside. Every time Renee (I referred to her by her first name only by this point) believed I'd taken a step in the direction she wanted me to, I ensured to take five back. Usually by smashing a teapot, stomping on a cucumber sandwich or running outside and somehow making sure to get myself covered in mud. Renee was one of those people that was rich enough to have sprinklers constantly on, even if it meant the plants ended up practically drowned. She eventually got rid of the sprinklers after I'd got covered in mud one too many times.

It was only when I was around twelve that her husband, who wasn't home very often, told her he wanted a divorce. He'd found someone else - I think she was a female baseball player who was much calmer and more sensible than my flighty mother. He managed to win a lot of her money in the courts - she'd never even heard of a pre-nup.

Of course, she blamed me for it all. Then, she took the usual route of drugs and drink. Lost all her high-end jobs, which left her penniless, jobless and friendless. That was the way her circle of friends worked - they didn't speak broke.

So, I was nearly fourteen when she unashamedly sold me to a brothel.

Thankfully, it was a high end one. One of those where you have to go through training first - and they saw virginity as a weakness, not something of high cost. It meant I was inexperienced - something their customers didn't favour. Thankfully.

Until I was eighteen, I was trained to be a prostitute and escort. It was quite a pampered life, really. But my knowledge of cars and guns helped a lot of the customers in ways they'd not thought visiting a brothel would have.

While they had their fun, I got mine from fixing up their cars and cleaning their guns. I eventually moved onto modifying them, helping the cars run smoother and teaching them how a gun really worked - how to properly care for it and the like. It didn't even occur to me at the time that they were a mob or a gang - I just saw a way to get a little money on the side without having to use my body. And I got to handle the things I liked most - cars and guns.

It wasn't until an old cowboy rolled in, and he saw me serving drinks in a My Little Pony shirt that I got to be around my third favoured thing - horses. He only came in for a few drinks, and to request a pretty woman to attend events with him. He got those, of course, but also a silly little sixteen year old to look after his horses for pretty cheap.

That lasted a little over a year, until my training finally ended. They had a designated barman, who was nice and charming. His job was to ensure every new girl's first time was good - it ensured that we weren't damaged too much when it came time to be a prostitute. Looking back, it was really disgusting that he even accepted that job. I suppose he was just as perverted as some of the customers.

After I was no longer a virgin, I didn't have time to tend to horses or fix up cars.

Every day was serving drinks, dancing on stage or luring in customers. By night, I usually was just expected to attend fancy events. I had to look pretty and clean. I had to act charming and polite. I had to rely on all those stupid lessons my mother had tried to force upon me.

The strange thing was, I didn't mind it at all. After the years of abuse from my mother, and months where I feared being raped by the drug dealers she brought home, or having an empty bottle flung at my head for no reason, or being burned by whatever she was smoking at the time just because she wanted to, my new lifestyle was a breath of fresh air.

Selling my body wasn't fun though, but I was one of those where you could only have me if you kept it wrapped up. I refused without, and even had to get some men thrown out. My bosses didn't mind though - my work as a kid had gained them quite a lot of money from loyally returning customers. Actually, they might've lost a bit of business after I stopped working on cars and guns.

Sadly, that life didn't last long. The place got shut down, I never found out why, and I was on the streets for a few weeks. Luckily, I somehow didn't get pregnant during that time. Street workers don't exactly have much right to demand their customers keep it wrapped up.

Then that old cowboy found me, took me in and offered me free board and food if I continued the old work I'd done for him years before. It was a good, nice life for a while. I was able to actually have a life - I went out and made friends, the old cowboy got me an education online, put me on his healthcare and basically became a second father to me.

Again, I was extremely lucky. I had a clean bill of health - though had a little malnutrition. No STD's, internal injuries or anything. Honestly, I was pretty shocked for a while!

Sadly, the same couldn't be said for my old cowboy adoptive father. He'd developed AIDS, admitting to me and the doctor that there was a large period in his life where he didn't even consider protection. The doctor said it was common within men of his age group, but that it usually wasn't left undetected that long, and estimated he'd only acquired the HIV virus within my lifetime.

He wasn't given very long to live, and lasted less time than that. His estranged family suddenly came along, after his death. Pretended to weep at his funeral - it was quite Oscar worthy. Truly.

His last will left me everything, but there was some tiny legal issue - he'd forgotten to put his signature in one place or something. I wasn't fully, mentally there at the time. The family that had been thrown out by him thirty years or so ago got everything, and threw me out.

Last I heard, all the horses which hadn't been the best in the country but still quite worth a few hundred thousand dollars were sold on the cheap to some farmer for dog meat. The house, stables and track were bulldozed, the land sold off and now has a run down shopping mall on it. There had been little to no interest in such things in that area - everyone produced their own resources or traded with their neighbour.

Destitute, I turned to the only place I knew might be safe for me. But I only had enough money to get me to Port Angeles, so I've been back in my old trade the last few months. I did have a proper job for a short time, and even made friends, but I got in a spot of trouble, and a pimp ended up saving my life - said I owed him at least five thousand dollars for it so I told him of my previous training. His organisation was dirt compared to the business I'd been originally trained in - but I wouldn't have been able to pay him back for years with the job I'd had.


	9. Kiss

"Throughout all this, I'd been exposed to vampires. They employed some of us at my first institution - for escort purposes when at events. They enjoy showing off, and competing for who can employ the prettiest woman. It was when I was about fifteen or sixteen that a vampire first nearly ate me - I'm some kind of singer to them. My blood is extra sweet, or something. Only vegetarians, ones that only drink from animals, and freshly fed or well experienced vampires can resist me. Quite a few have needed to be restrained around me. Like everything else in my life, the early exposure just meant I got used to it all." Bella toyed with her sleeve, she had a bad habit of pulling the threads out.

"My hopes at the moment is to be able to stay with you, Jacob..." She trailed off, but quickly coughed and continued before she lost all resolve. "I feel so safe here - you make me feel safe. I just want to escape everything, live a simpler life. I want to feel safe and free... as long as you'll allow me. As soon as I get too annoying or become a hindrance, let me know and I'll be out your hair."

Bella finally stopped talking, bit her lip and held her breath. She'd never monologued for so long, and never told anyone her full story. She didn't want the pity or the sympathy - in her opinion life was shit, and then you die. Her life was just shittier than most, but she'd accepted that the day her father had tearfully placed her on a plane and never saw her again.

Finally, her eyes flitted up to Jacob's face, and stayed there when she registered his expression. He was crying, biting his fist in an attempt to compose himself.

Then he moved so swiftly she might've missed it if his lips hadn't met hers. They were soft, and so very warm. His kiss was slow, and gentle. It wasn't a kind she'd really had before. There was an edge of desperation to it in the way he pressed a little too hard, and gripped the hair at her neck rather than gently hold her head. He pitied her, maybe?

Then she realised she didn't care, and kissed him back. Tears slowly slid down from her eyes, and both of them tasted salt in their mouths from both their tears.

"Your home will always be my home, Bella." Jacob promised. "I swear."

After that night, the pair were much closer to each other.

* * *

**Sincere apologies to the people getting spammed with emails btw oof**


	10. Lies

"I need to go collect more wood, wait here until I'm back and we can go for a walk?" Jacob asked with a grin, and a peck on her cheek.

Bella had been lost in thought though, and jumped a little at the contact, then her hands quickly reached out and gripped at his arm. "Wait, um, I was wondering actually... just how far are we from Forks? I was wondering about my father... whether he was still alive." She bit her lip.

Jacob swallowed. He knew Bella's father - he was the police chief that favoured fish. Their fathers had been best friends - honestly he was surprised he and Bella had never met before. He was only a year younger than her, though he supposed the first years of his life had been clouded by the death of his mother too much to be dragged around to his father's best friend's house.

Jacob also knew that the police chief now had three other children, and believed his eldest daughter was living a nice life still somewhere else in the country. Three adopted children - since his second wife had been killed in a freak hunting accident with a trigger-happy, slightly inebriated tourist wanted to hunt the "bears" in the area.

Those "bears" being Jacob and his old pack protecting the Res from cold ones.

Did Bella really want to know what became of her father in the end? Would Charlie really want to know what kind of life his eldest daughter had really been living all these years?

Finally, Jacob sighed heavily. There was a heavy lump in his throat threatening to choke him for the lies his was about to say. "I'm sorry Bella, I knew him... He married Sue, but they both died. House fire." Not a total lie - Sue was dead, and Charlie had accidentally caused a house fire once.

Jacob watched as Bella's eyes glazed over for a moment, and he steadied her in case she was going to faint. Slowly, a tear slid down her cheek, she nodded and then walked back into the cave mutely.  
By the time he'd returned, she seemed back to normal. Finally, he felt he could breathe again - one or two hours of her being a little sad over a father she hadn't known for nearly two decades was better than however much hurt the truth would've caused.

Greeting her by holding her and kissing her head, Jacob let himself relax a little. This little slip of a girl, older than him by years and experience, who had suffered through enough to make many people break physically and mentally, had managed to slip and weave her way into his heart and wedge herself there - maybe permanently. His wolf was settled and calm around her, practically a puppy begging for attention whenever she was near. They hadn't imprinted on her, but they more than accepted her.

Years ago, he had loved another. Now, he loved Bella. Harder, and stronger - reinforced by the same feelings from his wolf. Where last time only half the man had loved a woman, this time the whole of him loved her.

Still though, he couldn't bring himself to tell her what he was. It was too much - even for her. She detested everything supernatural - albeit she only knew of vampires, as far as he was aware. He could keep it from her, he had to. Otherwise, she would surely run away in terror.

"Jake?" A soft voice came from within his arms. He'd been musing for so long, he'd forgotten he was still holding the subject of his thoughts within his arms.

Chocolate orbs met his own dark brown, and for a moment he was just lost before - "Marry me."

She tensed. "Wh-what?"

"Marry me." Saying it again was a lot easier, and he slowly began to grin down at me. "Let's get married."

"B-but," Hesitation from her almost made his heart stop beating. Rain slowly began to pour around them - he needed to keep the wood dry, so he tried to move them both to be within the cave. "Jacob." She tugged on his wrist just as he placed the wood carrier down within the cave. Looking back with wide eyes, he tried to gently pull her inside since she was starting to get soaked in the heavy downpour.  
Then he noticed she seemed to be thinking over his words too much - her brows crushing together, her mouth twisting up and her fists pressed into her stomach. Gently, he rubbed his thumb into the top of her nose, between her eyes, before she gave herself a headache and waited.

Immediately, her eyes closed at the contact, and she relaxed a little. "Jacob, I'm an orphan."

"I know. So am I. Marry me."

"Jacob, I used to be a prostitute."

"I know. Marry me."

"Jake, I'm forever going to be hunted by vampires, even with your danger repellent thing." Her hands waved around, and he thought back a chuckle.  
Again, "I know. So, marry me?"

Finally, her eyes opened and one tear slid down her cheek to join the rain. "Are you sure you want me?"

This time he does chuckle, and wraps his arms around her where she stands. Him inside, her outside. Slowly, her arms rise to hug him back and she gently cries into his chest. She's so small next to him. "I'll want you until my dying breath."

Sniffling, she leaned back. "Wanna marry me, then?"

Simultaneously they broke out into laughter, and Bella squealed as he spun her around until she was finally in out of the rain.


	11. Marry

They hadn't wanted or needed any priests or witnesses, in their opinion. The trees and the wind could be their witnesses, and the river could be their priest. Together, they said their vows of fidelity among the trees that brought them together.

And that night they lay together not as friends, but as husband and wife... with the wife proving to be the much more experienced of the pair. Not that Jacob minded at all.

The next few days they stayed within a honeymoon feeling, rarely leaving each other's side or even their bed.

Eventually though, they each had to return to all the requirements their simple life demanded from them.

With a heavy heart, Jacob kissed his wife goodbye and told one last lie; "I'm just going into town to make some repairs, I'll be back tonight."

Really, there was an old friend he needed to visit.

The house was just as he remembered it, and knocking on the door that for years he'd just walked through as if it were his own felt so strange. The door creaked loudly as it opened, and there stood Quil with a slow grin growing on his face. "Jacob!"

After the usual polite talk that was required when entering someone's house, Jacob brought up why he was really at his door. "I need to speak to Old Quil."

Still easy-going Quil smiled. "He lives in his own room at the back, go straight in." His old friend pointed the way, then abruptly spun on his heel and ran to the front door just in time to answer it to a much-bigger-than-last-Jacob'd-seen-her Claire.

Jacob smiled at the scene, then slowly let himself into Old Quil's living area.

After more small pleasantries, Jacob quickly got to the point. "Is there any way for me to... separate from my wolf? To become fully human?"

Suddenly, both his wolf and Old Quil perked up. His wolf was agitated, and slightly hurt - why would anyone want rid of him? He'd been behaving himself perfectly well!

Meanwhile, Old Quil just seemed deeply concerned. "Why would you want such a thing, boy? You already know the answer from the last time you asked me."

Jacob swallowed nervously. "That was different - that time I wanted to kill him. I want him to live, maybe even have his own body if possible... I became this way because of my ancestor accidentally killing the spirit of the wolf he was within. The spirit of my wolf is within me, and shares his body with me in a way that allows me to become him. Surely, if there are two bodies and two spirits, there is a way to separate both safely?"

Jacob's wolf immediately went from hurt to supportive, if there was a way to do such a thing, he wouldn't be against it.

Old Quil sighed, and added a log to his fire. A delaying tactic. "There is such a way to do as you say, but it is rather dangerous. You could easily end up with the spirit of the wolf trapped within the man, and the spirit of the man trapped within the wolf. Either of the bodies could die, leaving you both trapped in just one form - ending up dead eventually as that is too much strain on one body. You could even end up as just a spirit! Forever to wander the earth without a body!" Old Quil snapped harshly at the end but none of it deterred Jacob - he really had only heard that his assumptions were correct.

"What if it goes well, though?" Jacob pushed.

With a sigh, Old Quil again tried to find a way to delay but came up short. "If it goes well, you'll become fully human - this means you'll no longer carry the wolf gene. You will completely end the line of Black protector's if you go through with this. Your children will never have the honour of becoming a protector, and neither will the rest of your line. Truly, that would be a sad day." The old man fell into a cliche coughing fit at the end.

Jacob felt anger creeping up his spine - this old man really knew nothing about the lives of the "protectors". They'd all had to drop everything - their dreams and hopes, everything - because they were suddenly forever tied to the land, all because they had exploded into a wolf during a fit of rage. That's what this old man counted as honour.

As his breath became laborious and his fists began to shake, his vision became red. His only thought was upon ripping the arrogant man to shreds for his stupidity. His own grandson had been on anti-depressants until Claire showed up for fucks sake! His wolf was just waiting, bubbling under the surface.

But then her face appeared from within the red mist. Her laugh tickled his ears, her moans ghosted across his chest and her scent drifted to his nose. Instantly, at just the thought of Bella, he completely calmed down. "Tell me how to do it."


	12. Smile

Three months later, Jacob couldn't remember a time he'd been happier. Each day, he saw to the forest, cared for the animals and got to spend time with his wife.

Those were just some of the requirements to become human though - in total, he had to remain within human form, relying only upon his human body to help anyone and anything that needed him, ensured the forest wasn't being mistreated by any living thing, grow his hair long (which perplexed him slightly), pray everyday to the spirits of his ancestors and continue to love and cherish the one who made him want to became human. This, he had to do for 100 days and then he would get his wish.

In the beginning, he'd scoffed and said that it was easy. But after having to catch ten hikers, save sixteen falling baby chicks and nurse an injured doe rather than just pity kill her and eat her, he was starting to get a little tired of being an acting-in forest god. Or whatever.

Cherishing his wife though, he was all too happy to do. And her being rather favourable of him growing out his black locks did help in that department. He'd almost forgotten how much of a hassle washing and maintaining long hair was, and he was extremely grateful to his loving wife that she was willing to help him with it.

However, he just couldn't help but to laugh every time they 'showered' in a waterfall at her attempts to reach his hair. She knew she was far too short, and would huff at him every time, then say something along the lines of "Get down here, Goliath!" or "Tarzan would bend down for his Jane, you know." Which usually made him laugh enough that he bent over and obliged her.

Life was blissful. Content. Perfect.

That is, until he returns home to find his wife completely gone.


	13. Ruin

Usually, Bella wouldn't leave their sanctuary without her husband. However, she really wanted to surprise him with his favourite meal - which required going quite a way out into the woods to where there was a patch of herbs she needed. It would take all of about an hour, and usually her husband was gone for a good five or six hours when he went out to earn some money, so he'd never even know she was gone.

All in black, Bella skipped her way out the cave, across the clearing, through the tunnels and down the hill, basket in hand. The fresh air, a little thick with moisture, felt great in her lungs - which had grown accustomed to the smokey, damp air of the cave. Her hair waved out behind her, freshly brushed since her husband was growing out his hair and realised why she had been nagging about the necessity of a brush.

Pure joy flowed through her as she breezed along through the trees, and carefully jumped over each root and rock. It felt as though nothing at all could bother her or go wrong - everything was right in the world, or at least in her world.

She had noticed a large personal change within her over the months she spent with Jacob - whose ability to always make her smile had been a large help. Mentally, she hadn't been well since she was living with her father as a child - now she was even better than then. Physically, she hadn't ever been as fit or as strong - her life was very physically demanding. Albeit, she carried a lot more scars than before she sprinted for her life into the woods, but scars were just a part of life. Personality wise, she'd noticed herself being a lot calmer, and smarter. Her brain had had time to recuperate, and adapt away from flight or fight to be back towards more rational thinking - every problem has a solution besides fighting or running away.

Except the supernatural. Always, for her, it would be to run as fast and as hard as she could away from it.

All in all though, she was the best version of herself so far, and she was rather proud and happy about it. A part of Bella would've liked to claim she'd done it all herself, but she knew the addition of loving and of being loved greatly assisted her transition.

But then she reached the usual patch of herbs, and her heart sunk as she spotted a wild boar munching and trampling his way through the wild herb patch.

'Fucking brilliant,' she thought, and nearly shocked herself with the thought - she hadn't sworn verbally or mentally for months... except when with her husband.

Quickly recovering, she carefully made sure to remain upwind of the boar, and continue on to another herb patch she knew of. It was about another hour away, tripling her journey time, but she knew she could make it back with more than enough time to spare.

An hour passed, and Bella could finally see the clearing she knew held the herbs she needed. By now, her back and brow were soak with sweat from being beaten down by the summer heat. She really hadn't dressed appropriately for the weather, but there wasn't much to do about it now. Her limbs were knackered, but she forced them onwards - she could rest her legs a little while her hands worked.

But then her eyes were momentarily blinded. With a gasp, Bella fell backwards as something completely dazzled her - but she hit something hard and solid long before she'd expected to be hitting the ground.

With the wind knocked out of her, and her exhausted limbs quietly crying to her, she quickly crumbled down into the strong arms. Her brain didn't even register how cold they were, or how the scent of vampire that she knew so well drifted to her nose. Fog had descended in her brain, and she was quickly falling unconscious.

Vaguely, distantly, she could hear. "Hello? Hello? Are you alright? Why do you smell of wolf?"

Breathlessly, she was able to just mutter, "...wolf?" Then her eyes rolled back, and she'd completely fainted. Oscar-worthy, really.

Groggily, she awoke some time later in a very soft, warm bed. Cramp in her leg had woken her, so she carefully sat up with small winces and whines until the pain eventually ebbed away. Then she looked up to examine the room, and practically leapt atop the headboard of the bed! There were five vampires - they didn't have red eyes but she knew what vegetarian eyes looked like - staring down at her.

"Fucking hate my blood," She mumbled, and smoothed back her hair while facing all of them with a hard glare. "Come to have a share of me? Sorry, but my blood belongs to someone already, and they really don't like to share. And they don't like me being gone too long, either." Her voice was sharp, but her words were purposeful - letting them know she knew about them, making it seem there was another vampire nearby and also making it clear they would be looking for her. They didn't know it would actually be her human, but 'danger-repellent', husband.

"Hello to you, too," A blonde female suddenly snapped, then stormed out the room. Her actions caused Bella to flinch, and fully set her brain within a very panicked fight or flight mode.

"Ahem," Another blonde, but male, suddenly fake coughed. "Hello. My name is Carlisle, and I am a doctor-"

"Yeah, yeah." Bella quickly waved for him to be quiet. "You're the Cullen's, you only drink from animals yada yada yada. You're rather infamous within the vampire community outside of your little bubbles. I've heard everything and more than I'd ever need to hear about you lot. And if you don't mind, I'd rather like to get back to my husband."

"She'd gone off on one, rambling. But, at that moment, she really didn't care. They could fight their urge to eat her, just about, but she wasn't planning on sticking around long enough to find out just how long. She had to get out - get out and run.

"You have a husband?" A bronze head suddenly sprung around the door, and glared into her skull.

"Yes."

"Is he the wolf then?" The bronze head quirked a brow.

Bella's heart suddenly tightened, stopping beating for a short time before suddenly accelerating upwards. The brief words shared between her and one of these vampires suddenly came to mind - she'd smelt of wolf?

Wolf? She'd never gone near one in her life, except one time at a zoo. W... werewolf? No, she'd vaguely heard of those before - they were rare; few and far between. And they were extremely dangerous - with no ability to control themselves during the transformation.

Besides, she only spent time with Jacob and he wasn't... wasn't a wolf... was he?

Suddenly, it felt as though she was being sucked up inside her body. There was a flash of a large, hulking body walking towards her as she began to lose consciousness all those months ago - at the time she'd thought it was a man but now she could see it had been a wolf. Then voices whispered over her; "They can't reach you here, nothing can hurt you here." "What, you're some kind of danger repellent?" "Something like that, sure."

Not a danger repellent at all, her brain finally clicked. She was married to a man somehow a part of the supernatural - and was powerful enough to scare away even vampires.

Again, her heart did it's strange rhythm, and then she was dragged back into control of her own body.

"Tell me what he is." Even to herself, her voice sounded dead.

* * *

**Anyone know why all this coding has suddenly appeared? Not fun to get rid of on mobile oof. Btw, just me or did the tense change in this chapter o.O**


	14. Chase

After searching through the whole cave, Jacob had become manic. Desperately, his wolf began to claw at him - he wanted out so he could help search for Bella. But they had ten more days until they would separate - just ten more and Jacob would be fully human, and his wolf a full wolf. Why had his wife have to disappear now? When his desperate wolf could offer no help?

Jacob stormed out the cave, and relied upon his naturally heightened senses to search out his wife. Her scent was a few hours old, and clear. However, it was beginning to look like rain was gathering above him, so he was going to have to run as fast as he could if he didn't want to lose the trail.

So he did just that.

Within just ten minutes, he'd reached the usual herb patch his wife went to - she wasn't there. The clouds were gathering faster; he had to hurry.

Forty minutes later he reached the clearing with the other small herb patch. He was sure he'd only mentioned this in passing to his wife - how had she found it?

But then intense fire was bubbling its way up his back - the smell of vampire was all around him, burning his nostrils on every inhale and exhale.

What was his wife doing with Cold Ones?

Breathe. He had to breathe, or else he'd have to start all over again, or worse, become switched about with his bodies. Breathe.

Once calmed, he opened his eyes and inhaled for the scent of the vampire again, and realised he knew it. A Cullen. He relaxed at that, a little. They were veggies, so hopefully that meant they could resist her. Another inhale confirmed there was no blood around that belonged to Bella.

So he began running again, this time he knew exactly where to go though - the Cullen house.


	15. Question

Some twisted part of her brain laughed deeply at her, while she found herself once again running through the woods - already covered in cuts - in an attempt to get away from vampires. That same part of her whispered dreaded 'what if's to her.

What if they were telling the truth? What if they just wanted to protect her? What if she'd stayed? What if she'd really listened?

What if all she wanted was to run into the arms of her husband, a man who could transform into a wolf!? More importantly, what if he really was a monster that nearly killed his pregnant girlfriend in an attack? What if he would attack her if she became pregnant?

At that point all her energy drained from her. No longer able to run, she just stumbled along, and deja vu kicked her in the ass as her foot again fell down a rabbit hole and she fell forward, hard.

The only difference was that it was raining, so her hair and clothes were glued down to her body, which shivered from cold and pain. At least her tears just melted into the rain.

Crawling on all fours, she buried herself under a brush at the roots of a tree, curled up in a ball and began to wait - either to die or to be found. She didn't know or care anymore.

Suddenly though, there was a lurch from within her stomach. Her face became a strange shade of pale yellow, horrified and terrified. Had she eaten something bad? Any attempt at swallowing it down completely failed, and the contents of her stomach emptied out beside her.

The smell stung her nose, and she spewed out pure bile.

Turning away, she began to crawl away from her mess, and hoped the rain would wash away any that was on her. She wished she was naive, but she knew the truth, and wept even harder.


	16. Defend

Jacob ran hard towards the Cullen house, and the heaven's finally broke apart to pour rain down upon his back. His brain was running wild, even faster than his body, supplying images of his screaming wife, being dragged through the forest, possibly getting herself hurt. She was so easily hurt by herself, had been hurt so much by the world. He didn't want to imagine what a vampire might do to her accidentally, never mind on purpose, but his mind was imagining it anyway.

The rain was beginning to dampen the scents, but he stopped short when he noticed a fresher trail that was just Bella, leading away from the Cullen house. His feet spun him away, and right into the faces of three vampires.

"What have you done with her?" His voice was entirely animalistic, punctuated by growls and snarls - the words completely unintelligible to human ears. Not that he cared in that moment.

One stepped forward. "She fainted, but was completely unharmed when she left-"

"You let her leave in this weather?" Jacob suddenly thundered, his skin rippling and his body shaking, but it was his wolf that dragged himself back - pushed the human forward. 'You want to be human,' the wolf whispered in his mind.

Another vampire perked up suddenly. "His wolf is detached enough that they have completely separate thoughts. He's trying to become human."

Both man and wolf growled out. "Stay out of my head!" With that, he charged, but he ran straight through them instead of attacking. He had a wife to get to.

Understandably, his human body was much slower than a vampire, yet Bella hadn't been far at all - close enough to hear their exchange. There was a strange smell to her, but since it wasn't blood he didn't care and simply drew her to him.

"Bella?" Nearly unconscious, her eyes blinked lazily at him, and a rough shiver travelled through her body like a monsoon. Some instinct to get warm made her cling to him, and he hugged her back just as tight, wrapping her little body up with his body as much as possible. Then she fell asleep, but at least he was warm enough to keep her safe.

"Jacob," a cold voice called to him, and the rain suddenly faded away to some dim sunlight - the clouds had moved on. When he turned, the cold ones were glowing it up like crystals. "You don't exactly have the best track record for being around women. Please, step back from her." He snarled at them, his wolf raised to the surface in a fierce surge to protect. Three vampires were getting too close to his wife and he just wanted to take her home and keep her safe-

In a furious burst, his wolf jumped forward with a terrifying snarl. Bella's body slid to the ground, safely cradled within his paws. If there weren't vampires, he would've allowed a surge of pride to flow through him that he hadn't even scratched her a little.

But there were vampires, and the instant Bella was on the ground he was spinning to look down upon them. His was a big, brown, fluffy, pissed off killing machine, looking to bite some vampire ass.

Biting the air, he charged at the three, catching the mind reader on the shoulder and shaking his head, while continuing forward to eventually throw the Cold One hard into a tree. The tree snapped. An arm remained within his mouth, which he spat away from him.

Tunnel vision overcame him, filtered red by pure rage. Within minutes, the mind reader's head was being flung aside towards the arm, and then a pile was being burned before Jacob fully came back to himself. The other vampires were gone, he guessed to go alert the rest of their "family".

Carefully, he approached the woman who was his family now, picked her up and carried her home.


	17. Avenge

The feeling of a heavy arm over her waist was initially a comfort, but as her stomach lurched it became an issue. She managed to throw the arm off by the second lurch, and get away from the cave enough to comfortably empty her stomach by the third lurch. A sound of disgust left her mouth once she was finished, and a hand rubbed absentmindedly at her stomach.

A few calming breaths later, and a mouth wash, saw her returning to her bed feeling rather weak and unsteady.

By then everything rushed back to her - the vampires she'd met, what they'd said to her, running away, Jacob finding her-

He'd thought her asleep, but she hadn't been. Not quite, at least. His thunderous roar as he transformed around her easily awakened her, but the sight of the shiny brown wolf (that she was having difficulty remind herself was her husband) charging head first towards three vampires had made her fully faint, again.

Her breath caught in her throat. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but didn't get past her eye lashes. For a moment, she just stared at her sleeping husband, arm reaching out to where she usually slept, his mouth open in a shape she used to think of as adorable, and a soft snore leaving his throat. But all she can truly see was fur, and torn clothes, and a wolf fighting a vampire! Three vampires!

Naively, she'd believed the supernatural side of the world had finally decided to leave her alone. But no. Fate or whatever drove the world around just had to allow her to marry into the supernatural world.

A shuddered breath left her, and she felt disconnected entirely from her body. Panic mode? Survival mode? She didn't know, but just watched as her body walked through the trees, and somehow found its way back to the vampire house.

Vampires, she knew. Vampires, she understood. Werewolves? She didn't know. Werewolves? She didn't understand.

Her husband? Well, he'd lied to her and betrayed her more than she ever could have realised without the help of the vampires she now stood before.

All she did was nod for a while. "Please help me, to help you."


	18. Kill

Jacob awoke groggily to an empty bed and a bad head. Like, really bad head. He almost questioned what he'd been drinking, before remembering he hadn't had an alcoholic drink for years. And he definitely hadn't been drinking last night.

When he sat up, he found his whole body aching. It was as though each bone was slowly breaking, then quickly snapping back to where they belong before continuing to slowly break again.

With a grunt, of pain and exhaustion, he pushed himself forward. The thought of Bella enabled him to do feats of near impossibility.

Stumbling, he washed his face in the stream and looked around for his wife. She was probably looking for food - recently shed nearly been able to match his level of eating!

With a hard sigh, and a mental push at his body to keep going, he strode through the tunnels towards the forest with a slight struggle.

The sight that met him once he left the safety of his tunnels rocked him to his core though - all six remaining Cullen vampires and the wife he'd fervently protected. Internally, he felt out within himself for his wolf, but he must've been hiding somewhere.

Betrayal flooded him - why would his wife lead his enemy here? To the home hed built all alone. To the only place he'd ever felt safe.

"Bella?" His voice was weak, strained, pained.

"How could you have lied to me so?" Her voice was small, and distant.

"Bella, I-" He cut himself off, a deep pain in both sides of his ribs. It felt as though they would crush up his lungs any second.

"Can't even make an excuse?" Her weak voice suddenly became strong as she shouted out! "Can't even justify keeping my father from me?"

A tear fell down his face as he fell to his knees. From physical pain and heartbreak. She'd finally uncovered his lie. "Bella..."

But she turned from him then, her back being the last thing he saw before the vampires tore him apart.


	19. Fear

More months passed. Bella was now living with her father, who was disbelieving at first - why was his daughter in Forks when she'd cut him off from her life years ago? But after some tear filled explanations, he understood why.

Happily, she helped care for her adopted siblings. Slowly, she became like a mother figure to them, which greatly benefitted Charlie, who really didn't know what to do with pre-pubescent girls and boys. Babies, the police chief could handle. Kids, the police chief could handle. Preteens and up? He definitely couldn't.

But eventually Bella found herself on the Reservation, talking to an old man who refused to smile at her entirely. Her siblings played out in the back garden, while Charlie spoke with other adults and some men she presumed to be around her age. They all remind her of _him_, though.

"You're the wife, then?" Old Quil pointed to a silver band that was wrapped around the ring finger of Bella's left hand. It was one of the last few things she had left to remind herself of her husband. The husband she had murder-

"Yes, I suppose." Bella felt herself retreat inside her body again, trying to get away from the conversation. A fake smile graced her face.

Old Quil suddenly walked over to her on surprisingly steady legs, his hands covering her belly before she could make an protest. Something beneath his hands kicked her sharply.

"I thought as much..." Old Quil mumbled, releasing her to grab a cane to support his weight upon. "About six months along, you have a good, strong pup within you."

His words made a lightning strike of shock shoot through from her heart to her brain, and she was suddenly yanked back into the control seat of her body. Yanked into engaging in a conversation she'd previously been and currently was unable to handle. "I- What?"

Her hands gripped her stomach in the stereotypical protective position that a mother does over her bump.

"You heard." Gently, he poked at her stomach. "I reckon that'll be our next alpha."

Bella paled, and she wasn't entirely sure what happened after that. All she knew was that she'd fainted some point after those last words were spoken.


	20. Sin

Bella had tried everything. Abortion hadn't been allowed. Beating her stomach had failed. Even flinging herself off the cliffs, twice, had done nothing to "shake away" the child, as she thought of it.

She didn't want it. It was a monster, a part of the supernatural world which she loathed. "Our next Alpha", was what he'd called it. Rethinking those words made hate and anger flood straight through her, and usually personified itself in another attempt to get rid of her pregnancy.

Before speaking with Old Quil, she'd naturally loved and almost bonded with her little bump. Before, she would've protected them until the end. But not now - all she wanted was for this child to be gone, to no longer exist. Even if she failed though, she supposed the wolves would take her baby away. She was going to save herself the pain of breaking the strong bond that would've formed naturally and then severed by wolves, by breaking the loose bond she'd already formed by herself. Self inflicted pain was something new to her, but she fully believed she could handle it.

According to the doctors, and the vampires who kept up regular visits, her due date was very soon. Internally, she was so glad the fortune-teller one couldn't see her future at all - something about naturally being a shield as well as being due to the child she carried. It meant no one knew of her post-natal plans.

With a deep, strong breath she left her family house through the back door, walking straight into the woods. It took several hours, with quite a few stops due to her no longer being as fit as she had been, as well as the slight difficulty of being very heavily pregnant. But she just gritted her teeth and pushed on through.

The steep climb up to the winding caves felt like it was going to kill her, and she had to sit on a smoothed out rock for several minutes to regain her breath.

She took a moment to just look out into the trees, listening to the birds and watching little squirrels hurry to hide their food reserves. When she'd waddled past some of the planting fields, she'd noticed a lot of it had been eaten by others, since it'd all been left unprotected.

Her hand brushed against something rough, and she looked down to see what it was. A lump formed in her throat as she saw the letters 'B+J' cut deep into the rock. She swallowed thickly, thought of rough growls, russet fur and sharp claws rather than soft whispers, gentle kisses and warm embraces.

She pushed on.

Getting lost in the caves was easy, and she regretted not making sure to have it memorised. A stretching rock cut her leg, but the thought of the medical supplies at the end of the tunnel kept her going. Finally, the light of day stretched out before her - at the same time she felt her waters break.

Wild panic set in, and she hurried the rest of the way through the cliffs, probably cutting her scarred to hell skin again but she just didn't care.

It was a hard labour, and she was extremely lucky to have no complications. She didn't care that she was alone, she didn't want anyone near her. Specifically, she didn't want anyone to know what she was planning.

Already, her sob story was set in her mind. 'I was following a deer that looked hurt, I fell down a deep burrow and gave birth to a stillborn there' was the gist of it, but she was going to have to force some tears out here and there. Everyone believes a grieving mother that's grieving stereotypically.

She wasn't sure she still had the ability to fake tears though.

Finally, her sleeping baby girl was curled up in some blankets on the other side of the bed to Bella, who had treated and bandaged all her cuts roughly before giving birth and was now re-doing it all patiently. Infection wasn't something she really wanted.

A soft cry reached her ears, and caused a twang to go off in her heart. 'No,' she thought, 'the child is a monster. A supernatural being that has no place being in this world. To hell with this.'

Her hand gripped the sharp farming tool firmly, her breaths escaped her body roughly and quickly. She had to do this. It had to be done.

With an angry cry, she turned to strike the swaddle of blankets. But the baby had slightly escaped, had wiggled out a little in its sleep. Her blow hit only blankets, not the baby.

Tears fell from Bella eyes suddenly, and for a moment she couldn't see. When her vision cleared - all she could see was the unharmed sleeping child.

It-she was... adorable. Human. Her skin was pale, though slightly darker than Bella's. A lot of her features were just pure Bella, expect the shape of her lips. They were big, full and rounded perfectly. Then her baby opened her eyes, just for a moment, and her dead husband's eyes stared back at her.

The baby made a gurgling noise, then returned to sleeping. The sound made a painful pang hit Bella right in her heart again. She'd nearly killed this child - nearly not heard that beautiful sound.

She was a monster herself - how had she considered killing a baby for so long? She was a sinner, she'd already killed her husband and now she wanted to kill their child? She was despicable.

Completely unfit to be this perfect child's mother.

Quickly, she looked over her child and noticed a small birth mark on her baby's hand - she released a sigh. If she was ever able to atone her sins, and allow herself to refind her child, at least there was some way to recognise her baby.

Methodically, she set to work. And soon, a sleeping baby wrapped in blankets was set adrift along the river within a tightly woven basket, her weeping mother following the basket for as long as she dared. It was all she could think to do at the time, and she wept fiercely as her legs finally gave out from under her, and she crumbled to the ground. The basket faded into the distance.

She would find her baby, one day.


	21. Search - ending part one

Months later, she finally returned to her senses. Had she really left a baby - a newborn, probably hungry baby - in the river? What had she really expected to happen? That was her baby!

Distraught, she'd ran out once again into the forest. But it betrayed her, rather than welcome her.

Every root was tripped over, every hole was fallen in and every time she leant at a tree to rest, the bark would crumble away from under her. She ended up just sprinting in a wild panic, going round and round in circles.

Her feet no longer remembered how to run in forests - it had been too long. Still, she pushed through, her mind running wild with the sounds of a screaming child, scared and alone. Starving to death.

She knew, deep in her heart, that her baby must have been dead already. It had been months. A baby couldn't survive alone in the forest for that long. But still she searched - she didn't care if it was only a dead body that could be found. As long as she found her baby, her mind might be able to rest.

All over again, her arms and legs became covered in cuts and began to bleed. She wasn't young anymore, and didn't have the speed and stamina that she'd had only a few years ago.

Her mind roared at her that she was pathetic.

Eventually, exhausted, she collapsed to the ground, and quietly began chanting, "My baby, where are you?"

Hours later, she awoke to the sight of the back of her house. Had she really gone around in circles so much that she'd just ended up where she'd started?

No, she distinctly remembered only being able to see trees all around her.

With a heavy sigh, and a rub to her head, she clambered up to her feet and walked back to her house. On the way, she figured she might have woken up again and gone home or someone had helped her, and she just couldn't remember it.

She didnt notice the bite-mark sharped rip on her clothes at all.

That night, and for the next few months, she dreamed of soft, russet fur.

* * *

**Not saying 25/26 is old. I was just using that as a way to show she wasn't youthfully energetic anymore.**


	22. Love - ending part two

Years later, Bella was a new woman.

After a long period of time for recuperation, she'd continued with online courses, and even going to some schools. As a fully qualified beautician and hairdresser, she loved her work of being able to make people feel good about themselves. She'd even started up her own business, and employed a few people. She preferred to hire colleagues no one else would give a chance to due to being under-qualified - and helped people's natural talents become their trade. It made her heart bloom and expand out with love.

She'd even got married, again. Although, it wasn't a love affair. A regular customer had been complaining about his parents demanding he get married within the year - big problem was, they refused to accept that he was gay, and continued to pressure that it was just a phase. For him, it most certainly was not - he was fully homosexual! So, Bella had offered to be his wife for a few years - keep his parents happy for a time, and then get divorced.

Her not-then husband had at first been appalled by the idea, and insisted that he couldn't do that to her. Yet, Bella didn't mind at all, and even suggested they make her out to be a bad person during the divorce, and use that to further push his homosexuality into his parent's mind. His parents lived overseas in the UK anyway, so it wasn't like there'd be any rumours or speculations spread about it that could damage her business reputation.

So, now she wore two rings on her left hand and one on her right (the engagement ring). Comparatively, the silver band that she still cherished was rather dull - but in her opinion, silver was prettier than gold.

For the first time since the day she decided to attempt to kill her child, she found herself on the Reservation, within a man called Quil's home again. It was an engagement party, and since she'd been specifically invited along with her father and siblings, she felt she'd had to go. Her husband had stayed at home, in order to keep up the charade that things were not going well between them already.

After a short amount of celebration, the party began to die down, and Bella found herself eating cake by herself in the back yard.

When that old man from years before sat down beside her, she instantly stiffened.

"You're married again?" His gruff but weak voice reached her ears. She looked over to him, but he was staring out into the forest.

Smoothly, she answered. "Yes, but no. It's not for love. We're getting a divorce soon, the marriage was to appease his family." She didn't know why she was telling him the whole truth - the man just had a way of drawing it out of her.

Old Quil made a strange sound in his throat, and remained quiet for a time. "Do you know what became of the child?"

Bella swallowed thickly, tears threatening to fall. Her mind darted back to her earlier years, the days when she refused to allow any tears to fall. The days when she could fight it back. Now, tears came to her easily. "No."

"Would you like to know?" Her head snapped round to face him fully, to see a knowledge-filled half smile upon his face. "I understand you went looking for her when she was a few months old, yes? You must've realised what you'd done?"

Mutely, Bella could only nod back. In a way, she wished her mind would force herself back, and away from his conversation. But years of therapy had helped her get over that unstable defence mechanism.

Slowly, Old Quil raised a hand towards the direction of the woods.

Bella's eyes focused on only his hand for a long time, her eyes growing red before tears finally fell down to her cheeks and a sniffle left her nose. When she'd finally gathered the courage, she turned her head to where the old man was pointing.

There, at the very edge of the forest several meters from her, sat the big russet wolf she hadn't dreamed about for years. More tears fell, as she spotted a dusty cream pup beside him.

Slowly, unsteadily, she rose to her feet - which began to carry her towards the wolves. More tears fell, and a wail got stuck within her throat.

The bigger wolf began to walk towards her, meeting her halfway. The pup followed hesitantly, skittishly. She'd not met many humans before, and was still wary.

The russet wolf stopped a foot from where Bella was, allowing her to make the first move.

"Jacob?" It was more of a sob, but the wolf's ears caught the word easily. The big, fluffy head nodded.

With a hard cry, Bella leapt forward, her arms encircling Jacob's neck and she wept into his fluffy chest. He smelt exactly the same as when he was human.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." She wailed, over and over. Jacob just hugged her back with a paw to her back and his head tucked into her shoulder, letting off a strange noise similar to a purr.

Eventually, the little pup rubbed up against her legs, and she looked towards it. The pup seemed to smile, and then suddenly she was looking into the eyes of a little girl. A little girl with a birthmark on her hand.

"Dadda says he loves you."

Bella's heart nearly stopped beating, and then she hoisted the little girl up, and hugged Jacob even tighter to her.


End file.
